22 September 2016 - First Day of Fall

I do not like rushing into seasons. I like to relish the one I'm in. You won't hear me saying things like "I can't wait until winter when we can ski again." Or "Gee, why can't Spring get here."  You can imagine how I feel when I get advertisements for Christmas decorations in September. Can't delete or throw those away fast enough. 

I have a friend who has started a blog about being positive -- simplypositivewithdena.blogspot.com . I was so in sync with her when she wrote this:

I have a small request:   Put down your Pumpkin Spice Latte and slowly step away.  We still have ten more days of summer and I don’t know about you, but I’d like to savor it.

I realize we are in the midst of back-to-school craziness and the stores are offensively displaying Halloween decor, but it is not time to swap sandals for sweaters.  Why are we in such a rush to move forward?  Don’t get me wrong, Autumn is my favorite time of year.  I love all things pumpkin, cider mills, the colors of the changing leaves and the smell in the air – but I don’t love it until September 22nd.  I know I preach the “stop and smell the roses” routine but seriously people….stop…and smell the roses…because they will soon be gone.

But today is the Fall Equinox and while we can still enjoy an Indian Summer, we can also start moving toward a fall state of mind.  To that end, I started my celebration early this morning. In my opinion, there is nothing as good as roadside fruit and vegetable stands. My local stand has hands-down the best peaches I have ever tasted. I needed more, but also found this. It screamed fall at me. Even though I still have roses blooming in the garden, the world is turning toward fall, so this lovely pumpkin came home with me. 

Fall is a very bittersweet time for me. My sister's birthday is in a couple of days. She didn't just love the fall, she gloried in it. Every year I would get a phone call on the day that the air turned and you could smell the crispness. She loved gourds, acorns, pine cones and the changing colors of the leaves. She even found beauty in the crinkly brown leaves. She especially loved the small sugar pumpkins and they would herald a baking spree. In her world, pumpkin came out of a shell, not a can and you really could taste the difference. 

While I will enjoy fall in my own way, I often find myself looking at it through her eyes as well. This one's for you, Robin.