Fall Fever is setting in earlier than normal this year for some reason. I was changing out the seasonal decorations in the house recently, exchanging a wreath by our front door garnished with summer berries and a red plaid ribbon for something a little more autumnal when the Hub asked if I was in a hurry to see summer go. I love summer but definitely have a preference for cooler weather and less yard work. I also look better in sweaters than anything sleeveless these days and am ready to get back in the kitchen and bake something!
Summer carries with it a sense of urgency, so much to do in the garden and activities crammed in every waking moment of free time. I admire the languidity of summers past, as we lounged out by the pool or took naps on the veranda, those days seem to be long gone. There just doesn’t ever seem to be enough time. When the Hub and I were first dating we would schedule one day off together during the summer and go to the local water park swimming, in an effort to recapture that gleeful “playing in the water” sensation that makes even the most staid couples giddy and glad to be together. We haven’t done that in awhile and I miss it. Last year, the Hub and I went to the Grand Canyon and used up all our discretionary vacation days on that instead of working in my swimming day off. This year he has been busy with a construction project on the rancho which seems as if it will never be done.
Fall, while busy, just never seems to be as busy as summer for us. There is time for a walk after dinner out to the garden, or a game of Pente in front of the fire. There is time for malingering, for drinking coffee out on the deck clad in a flannel shirt as the pinion smoke from the chimena teases the neighbors. Granted a lot of the Fall is still about being outside but with the evenings shorter, there seems to be more time to be spent catching up on movies missed and books to be read.
I do miss the foods of summer: fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden, crunchy and tart, tangy and sweet but Fall has her own tastes and textures to be enjoyed. With the recent book and movie out, Julie and Julia, I cannot wait to try to make Boeuf Bourguignon a La Julia Child when the house cools off enough to turn the oven back on.
What I miss now about Fall is back to school with all the kids gone. As a bonafied school supply junkie, I have no reason to buy paper and pens in any quantity, no reason for school clothes shopping or even knowing when it starts and stops. My biggest clue these days is an increase in traffic. I know it’s not too late to go back to school myself and there are still a myriad of things I want to be when I grow up: librarian, barrel racer, photographer but only in the Fall. The rest of the year I am just too busy being me.