I love Autumn

I love Autumn.  I love it so much I capitalize it! The hot days of summer melt into cooler evenings.  The days shorten into crisp evenings.  It’s exciting to see the first gold leaves on the trees.  Change is in the air, change I gleefully embrace.

I don’t care for heat, particularly after menopause.  Autumn brings a reprieve from the oppressive sweltering days of August.  Even if caught in a lingering Indian Summer, evenings begin to cool.  We use the air conditioner less and blankies take their place. 

The seasons are shifting, as we transition from the long bright days of summer to the long dark nights of winter.  Autumn is a time of reaping, a time of harvest.  Communities come together to bring in the crops.  I live on the edge of farmland where produce stands dot the back roads.  Golden squash, bright pumpkins, red and green peppers and artichokes!  Fields of enormous cabbage fill the air with pungent ripeness.

In Autumn we prepare for the long, cold winter ahead.  My Gramma used to put up dozens of quarts of peaches, cherries, and pears – my favorite.  She had a huge pantry in her basement full of fruit for the winter.  She would make lots of applesauce.  Plain, cinnamon and spicy cinnamon using red hot candies.  Everyone loved the spicy pink!  Hours spent in a hot kitchen making simple syrup, standing over the huge pot of boiling water sealing jars.  I remember Gramma in the kitchen.  She was in her element. Pink cheeks, pearls of sweat on her brow, glistening on the tip of her nose. 

You can see her bare feet under the pouf!

Even though I am not actually involved in harvesting, we still gather in fall.  Back to school, back to work, back to schedules and homework and activities.  Autumn is a time of busy-ness.  Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas.  A time for families to come together.  I remember our first Halloween in California.  My oldest daughter, Mo, was 3 and dressed in a royal blue velvet and tulle princess confection.  Much pouf and froufrou!  I stayed home with my youngest, Ma, 5 months at the time.  Mo was so excited for her first trick-or-treating she burst out the front door in a frenzy.  It wasn’t until she and Daddy returned home that we realized she was barefoot!

Autumn of a time of coziness.  The sun slips away earlier each day, while gold and crimson leaves litter the sidewalk.  The bittersweet smell of decaying leaves hangs in the air along with the inviting smells of roasting chicken, root vegetables and savory spices.  I love to walk through the door and be enveloped by warmth and the smell of dinner.  Autumn in a time of cozy snuggles and family.

I love Autumn.