Fall Won’t Pass Me By

My favorite season has arrived!  Fall is by far my favorite season of the year.  And yes, I have already put up my “early fall” decorations.  As I type this, I am surrounded by the scent of assorted pumpkin-y scented wallflowers and various autumn-scented candles.  I am sure it smells like a wax melts factory in here, and that is just how I like it.  I want to feel like I am eating pumpkin pie even when I’m not.  I’m even drinking pumpkin spice coffee with pumpkin spice creamer.  I just ate a pumpkin spice caramel.  I will savor the season for as long as I can.  I will savor it until it is time for Christmas, then I will drop it like a hot potato, because I really love Christmas a whole lot, too.  But, we are still in fall.  So here are my top ten reasons for loving fall:

1. I love when the humidity and temperature drop and we can wear sweaters and boots.  I am fifty years old!  The more I can cover- the better.  Sweaters, cardigans, sweatshirts, jeans, boots, and leggings are items I love.  They are soft and cuddly and they cover so many lumps and wrinkles.  I am just happier when I can wear them.  I cannot be as happy when I have flappy arm fat swinging all around for everyone to see.  I don’t like deciding whether I want to be cool and flappy or hot and confined.  Being old is so hard in the heat.  Fall is great because you can just cover it up.
2. I love the flavors of fall.  I like apple, pumpkin, cinnamon, candy corn, and Halloween candy.  So I guess I should say I like the sweet flavors of fall.  Technically, Thanksgiving is in fall.  I do enjoy Thanksgiving.  I enjoy the holiday and what it represents.  I do not enjoy the savory food though.  The smell of roasted turkey is one of the worst smells ever.  I think only cavemen really like it.  I could not possibly eat anything that smells that bad whilst cooking.  It cannot be good for you.  It smells like death.  A lot of the other side dishes have a very gooey consistency.  So much goo.  I just keep wishing I had a nice salad,  or even a pizza.  I do like the pumpkin pie at the end.  
3. Driving down the street when the leaves are all pretty colors of yellow, red, and orange and the sky is bright blue is just magical.  I like there to be just enough wind to make the leaves on the side of the road swirl around a little.  If my allergies were not so incredibly bad, perhaps I could actually go outside and see the leaves and the trees and the sky.  Alas, I wake up and my eyes are glued shut with sticky gunk and my nose drips constantly, so I know better than to actually wander outside.  It is pretty from a window.  I love all of the pretty decorations on people’s porches.  Their pumpkins and mums look so festive and cute.
4. I love Halloween!!  I always have. When I was little, I loved to get dressed up to go trick-or-treating and I loved to hand out candy at my house.  I loved to watch Halloween shows on TV.  I remember having Halloween parties and pumpkin carving parties with my friends.  One year, we even made our own haunted house.  We had plenty of experience; I think we went to every haunted house within fifty miles of our town.  I can even remember taking my grandma to one.  
5. Mark and I go to wineries on the weekends in the fall.  I am sure most of the wineries are sorry to see us coming, because we don’t really drink wine.  Mark doesn’t really like wine.  Wine gives me migraines.  We just like to have a late lunch and enjoy the scenery, which normally includes many people who are on a winery tour and are about four wineries in.  These folks are very entertaining to those of us who are stone cold sober.  Plus, most wineries have very nice views of the trees and the pretty colors.  
6. Tyra and I take Emily and Alex to a pumpkin patch every October.  We started doing this when my kids were very little.  The girls are getting pretty old now, but they still want to go.  That’s good, because Tyra and I always want to go. When the girls won’t go with us, I guess we’ll just go by ourselves and look pitiful.  We have some of the best memories from the pumpkin patch.  I love watching all of the little toddlers running around with their cute little pumpkin outfits with matching gigantic bows.  That brings back so many memories.  I sure do hope I have a granddaughter one day.  I miss those matching bows so much!
7. My sweet little niece Alex has a birthday in the fall.  That’s a very special reason for me to love this season. She really wants me to write my blog about her one week.  I might have to do that later this month, in honor of her birthday.  She is a corgi-loving fifth grader who keeps us all laughing with her crazy antics.  I love her to pieces.
8. Fall has beautiful sunrises and sunsets.  I know this because I get to see many of the sunrises as I drive to a school early on weekday mornings.  I can’t say that I enjoy getting up, getting ready, and getting on the road when it is totally dark out, but it is beautiful when you finally see the sun begin to rise in the sky. There is something special about being there to welcome a new day in.  
9. Being a teacher, I love all of the school events that take place in the fall.  I enjoy seeing school pictures shared on Facebook.  I like to see pictures of all of the kids at their sporting events.  I have already seen so many kids who have gotten positive behavior awards and other recognitions.  I love when teachers share pictures of the great things that they have going on in their classes.  After all of the yuck we have seen going on in education, I delight in seeing all of the good.  This is what we should be focusing on.
10. Finally, I love the start of fall because we are coming closer to the end of one period of time and the beginning of another.  The seasons are a reminder that time does not stand still.  If we don’t stop and notice, whole seasons can pass us by.  Fall is my favorite.  I’m going to try to slow down and enjoy this one!