I love fall...

I like spring too, but I have allergies in the spring, so there are challenges during the spring for me that are not present at other times of the year... summer is hot and my body doesn't handle heat very well... Winter is lovely too, but there are lots of days that it is too cold to go out for long... so, I love the season of fall... I like crisp nights, and cooler days... I like the freshness of garden vegetables, apples that crunch really loud when I bite into them... and the taste of soups that I haven't been able to enjoy for months during the heat of the summer... I like the smell of things baking that haven't been baked in the heat of the summer either...

This year particularly I have liked new things about the fall... like watching the young school children head off past our house in new clothes and carrying their backpacks proudly to the bus stop, with moms following at a "safe" distance... obviously struggling to give that first taste of new independence to an oldest child in the family... and I remembered those days in my own life...

I like hearing the marching band practice at the high school when we go past sometimes in the early morning, remembering when Son1 was asked to play the bass drum, because he was one of the the only members with enough height to carry and play it... and they didn't really need him as another trumpet, so he got some new instrument experiences that year...

I like watching the day move into night... that strangely LOUD, but peaceful cicada filled time of day in our part of the world when the hills out past our place are bathed in an otherworldly combination of clouds and light that only God could create. I sometimes wish I had the skill to paint something like this...

This year especially, I really love the fall. ~ PA