Autumn is Coming!

While working on my neglected primary blog, I set up three months worth of Autumn poems for September, October and November. It's something I've been trying to consistently do for a year or two now, partly because I really enjoy it and partly because I'm a bit of a lazy blogger. I think I'm starting to run out of really good Autumn poems that I like, which means there'll either be lots of repeats or I'll have to find something else to do with myself on Wednesdays. Anyway, while reading the poems and selecting some lovely pictures to go with them, I found myself missing Autumn more than usual and longing for the return of my favorite season.

Autumn is always so lovely, with cool evenings and gorgeous colors everywhere. I always mentally describe it as a riot of color, because that's exactly what it is! In my childhood, we had frequent delicious rainstorms arrive around mid-October that would quench the thirsty earth for anywhere from three days to nine days in a row. One time we had a series of storms last for over two weeks! I loved every minute of it. When it rains, you have the cooling affect of the water washing away the dirt and grim of the world, paired with the enchanting sound of drops splattering the house, trees and car. And the smell, oh my gosh, the smell of a freshly washed world just after a rainstorm has ended! It rivals that of baking cookies, books and babies' heads.

And when it's not raining, you have pumpkins everywhere! The harvest bursts forth, yielding a bounty of fruits and vegetables, the most important one being pumpkins because they scream Autumn with their brilliant color and their classic association with the season. I try to sample as many pumpkin things as I can and have this idea of a pumpkin themed gift basket brewing in the back of my mind {though what I would need a gift basket for, I'm not sure}. Pumpkin tea, cakes, bread, cookies, cocktails, soups even! The sky is the limit when it comes to the orange treat. In addition to pumpkins, there are also yummy mandarin oranges ready to be peeled and passed around. Whenever I have an orange, I share it with whoever is nearby - my Dad, my husband, my baby. And my favorite apple, Granny Smith, is ready for harvest right around Thanksgiving.

And Thanksgiving! My favorite holiday! So festival and fun, spending weeks cleaning the house and planning menus to someday host my own Thanksgiving dinner, while getting ready to attend it at my Aunt or parents' house. We'll have pumpkin pie and pecan pie, of course, and turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberries galore, salads, apple cider, wine and mashed potatoes with baked sweet potatoes and all manner of snacks to nibble on. I bake pumpkin cookies and chocolate chip cookies every year, regardless of whose house we're going to. We spend all day with my Dad's relatives, talking, catching up, taking pictures and sharing a special day with people we love. Our family has grown with the addition of new spouses and children, hinting at a return of my childhood memories of playing with my cousins. We might even have enough kids one day to have an Easter egg hunt again!

But some of the best things about Autumn aren't all about the rain or the pumpkins or the busy socializing with relatives. It's the little daily things. Snuggling under the cozy warm blankets with my husband and Baby, knowing we don't have to get up to brave the cold outside for awhile. Or sipping a hot cup of Chai Spice tea while snacking on some yummy pumpkin bread or chocolate chip cookies we made earlier in the day. Having pumpkin pancakes my sister made or treating ourselves to a hot chocolate while out shopping. Sometimes we'l have spiced apple cider and did I mention Sam Adams Pumpkin Ale?! Divine! Other times I'll wrap Baby and I up in soft warm layers {long sleeves are my favorite!} and we'll go for a long walk, enjoying the recent rain or the dancing colors, or listening for the sound of geese flying by overhead. When nap-time rolls around, I pretend to sit by our invisible fireplace like I used to do with the real one of my childhood, and I'll dive into a new book or work on one of my many writing projects. Autumn is my favorite time to write; it's the most inspirational and I feel like I could write 50,000 words every month, not just in November, or turn out best-selling poems.

Now that I have a little one to share my joy of Autumn with, I'm looking forward to collecting leaves, splashing in puddles, getting all muddy and taking a hot bath before settling down for some cookies and reading Autumn or Thanksgiving themed books. There's a rise of such themed stories in the children's market lately and I intend to take full advantage, building my baby's library little bit by little bit.

And while Autumn is still not quite here yet, I know she's coming. I can hear the faintest rush in the wind whispering of her approach, I can see the first effects of her touch in the yellow leaves beginning to change and fall, and I can feel her coming. Autumn is coming and I'm ever so happy!