Up here in the mountains, you can tell it's the beginning of fall. A few of the plants are taking on that reddish tint to their leaves, the nights are colder, and our daytime high is in the 70s and low 80s. The hummingbirds have slowed down and we're harvesting from the garden out back. Anyone need any cucumbers?
I'm not sure how we'll do this first winter. Maybe it'll be exciting because it's new all over again. Maybe it'll be harder than we thought - most of us don't own warm weather clothes anymore and the last time I bought coats, the kids were 5, 7 and 9 - now they're 12, 14 and 16!
Either way, I'm enjoying a quieter life now. There are moments when I feel bored or lonely for a friend, but it's not that often. Mostly I'm thankful we aren't in a 1000sf condo for the 5 of us, there aren't strangers walking by my front door, I'm not listening to the neighbors fighting (again), and my kids are safe here, and oh yeah, you can even drink the water here!
Fall will be a time of freezing veggies from the garden, canning pickles, dressing in sweaters and sweatshirts I haven't worn in 8 years (I'm smaller now, yeah!), and cuddling up next to the fireplace with my snuggie and a cup of cocoa. And I get to use the griddle on our stainless industrial stove! It takes an hour to heat up and several hours to cool down, so we only plan on using it in the winter. I can't wait for that either!
This Christmas we're all trying to figure out what to make for each other. It'll be a thoughtful holiday with effort going into the gifts we make and give to each other. If you have a safe, warm house, surrounded by family, a beautiful tree in the corner to commemorate the season, what more do you need?
I'm also looking forward to having a fall tea sometime soon. Lots of goodies with pumpkin, cranberries, oranges and cinnamon. So what will you do to bring in the fall?
