Fall

I love fall. But I didn't always love it. As a kid it meant the end of warm summer days where I could run around barefoot and have all day play dates with Tonya. It also meant that our chores would now start to include "bringing in wood" which was no easy task in our household.

But somewhere along the way my feelings changed. Perhaps it was realizing that sweaters felt good to wear or that fall meant the holidays were coming. Shortly after Chris and I were married we were living in Springville. During my daily drive into Provo I looked to the east at the mountains and gasped. When did they get so red? What was that stuff popping up all over the mountains? It looked like the mountain had chicken pox. I was fascinated with it after that. I would check the progression of the 'chicken pox' daily and found it to be beautiful. When we left Utah to move to Oregon I remember saying to Chris that I would miss the falls in Utah.

Fast forward about a year later and we are living in Albany, Oregon. It's fall again and I'm driving again too. This time not to my school but to Makenzie's. She has recently started pre-school and I'm on my way to drop her off. I turn the street and gasp. When did Oregon get so beautiful in the fall? I had never noticed the trees turning color before. The street I was driving down was amazing with color: green, gold, yellow, orange, red and purple. I stopped the car and Makenzie and I got out to pick some leaves up off the ground. While bending over to pick up some stray leaves I wondered if we just didn't have trees like this in Coos Bay or if I had just never noticed them while growing up.

Those two experiences cemented in me my love for fall. My children don't ever have to drag me to the pumpkin patch. I go willingly.

What I love about fall:
Halloween (my favorite holiday)
Caramel apples
Early morning soccer games
Changing leaves
Holiday planning
trick or treating
wearing warm socks
The apple farm
The pumpkin patch
Football games
Soups, stews and chowders
Garden harvest
Roasting marshmallows in our wood stove
Wearing my favorite sweatshirt
Fresh pressed apple cider
Foggy breath from Jersey cows