Fall arrives!

With the advent of September, I have noticed a subtle change - fall has arrived! The temperatures have dipped into the lower eighties and upper seventies, the sunshine is mellower, and the mountains are tinged with flecks of red and gold. I love fall. My autumns have always been accompanied by stacks of books, a brand new schedule, a hefty backpack, and crisp blank notebooks waiting to be filled with notes carefully and enthusiastically jotted down (sometimes even in Spanish and Italian!); the sounds of fall have always included the roar of the school bus, the clang of the classroom bell and the rush of footsteps from one class to another, and the voices of teachers and professors hinting at the jewels of learning to be sought and discovered in the coming months. This year is different, and I am caught up in the bittersweet change from academics to the pursuit of wealth - one moment savoring the evenings free of homework and the next moment gulping back a surge of longing to be ensconced once again in a desk pouring through textbooks. I envy Kenny for his chance to be in school for two more semesters (at least I envy him as much as any humanities major can envy a student buried in engineering and business texts). But there are new adventures to be had in the world of business and new paths to be trod as a professional, and I know I will someday rejoin the ranks of students, better prepared for study because of the things I am doing now.

And yet fall holds more for me than just the start of a new school year - visions of smoky afternoons and mellow fall evenings, the crunch and rustle of fallen leaves, sun-warmed orbs of apples and pumpkins, leering jack-o-lanterns, the spooky delights of Halloween - all these treats cheer my cooler days and crisp nights and send thrills to my heart. The coziness of harvest time, the preparing and gathering ahead of chilly winter nights, wrap around my soul and lend a comfort and satisfaction to each day. Sure, the closest I've ever come to a harvest is a pumpkin patch or the bounty at my local grocery store, but I like to think we can still sense this ageless ritual of reaping and storing that has sustained generations before us as part of some hereditary memory, some cultural imprint on our souls. I'm pretty sure I enjoy harvest time a lot more than actual harvesters do, blissfully ignorant of the hardships of depending on my labors and the fickle earth to sustain life and bring profit - I just like seeing cornfields and pumpkin patches and bales of hay. Silly, silly suburban girl that I am! Conscious of my total lack of authentic experience, I nonetheless love and cherish fall for the bounty it brings - jewels of red, gold, and orange that fill barrels and buckets and peep from tree limbs and vines; bales of hay that scratch against my skin and fill the air with tangy, dusty scents; fields of corn that rustle mysteriously and crackle in the evening breezes; smoky sunsets that set the mountains on fire; mornings tinged with frost; steaming, spicy drinks that warm you to your toes; the hedonism of Halloween candy; all the things you can do with apples that completely rob them of their nutritional value - yes, fall is wonderful for all the delightful things it brings!

This fall, I'm planning to partake of the following activities and experiences, taking advantage of evenings and weekends devoid of homework (but not of housework or work work): haunted houses, corn mazes, pumpkin patches, apple cider, hikes in the mountains, hay rides, wassail, baked apples, pumpkin carving, scary movies, Halloween costumes, listening to "Thriller" and "Monster Mash," decorating for Halloween, not mowing and watering my lawn so much, apple and pumpkin-scented candles, my spooky Halloween tree, bobbing for apples, and reading scary stories. Maybe I can even sneak in a bonfire and marshmallow roast! I'm definitely going to concentrate on savoring each fall moment, storing up enjoyments and memories to weather through my not-favorite time of year - icky, cold, wet, crappy winter!

Here are some pics of summer fading into fall:

Our flowers bursting into bloom:


From our table at The Roof Restaurant on Temple Square on our first anniversary. The sun is setting so much earlier now!


Halloween candy! (Mom, check out the adorable giraffe spoons you gave me!)


The mountains, starting to turn red, from the J-Dogs hot dog stand just off campus this Saturday.


What a perfect day!


Kenny enjoying his hot dog!


Me enjoying mine! (Excuse my hair - I hadn't done it that day.)