It’s Finally Fall, Y’all!

Sort of. I mean, according to the calendar it is, but I live in Florida where it’s currently 92 degrees outside. Even with this being my reality, I will not allow my love of the season to be thwarted. I may melt as soon as I walk out the door, but inside there are pumpkins, scarecrows, and sunflowers everywhere and it smells like cinnamon spice!

This has always been my favorite time of year, even as a little girl…though it probably didn’t hurt that my birthday immediately precedes it! Summer is great and I love the beach (in theory), but there’s just something in my soul that stirs when fall is near. I suppose when I really think about it, it’s understandable. Summer is vibrant and electric and exciting! It’s for the extroverts; the ones who love to go and play and do. Autumn is slower, cooler, more muted. It’s made for introverts; our cozy little oasis between summer picnics and winter holiday parties.

Seeing bright pops of orange and red and yellow leaves against a hazy, steely blue sky with pumpkins lined up on porches thrills my heart. I long all year for the smell of woodsmoke mingling with crisp apples and comforting spice in the air. It’s the time I feel most at peace. My sweet mama always called me her old soul because I was never excited by the the things that others my age were. I was happy to curl up in front of a fire with a book, a cup of tea and a cozy sweater, even as a teenager. While a lot of my peers were planning for the next football game or party, I was content to be in my own space writing and baking. For the most part, a good Friday night for me was one spent at home…and it still is. I think that’s why fall appeals to me. It’s generally a little cooler. There are more gray, drizzly days interspersed with brilliant sunny ones. It begins to get dark earlier. Soups, stews and chilis simmer on the stove more often. Spooky shows and movies get more airtime. The darker, more gothic inclined aspect of my personality gets to come out and play with far fewer sidelong glances.

Sometimes I wish I lived in a climate with a more definitive seasonal shift…but to be completely honest, those times are almost always aligned with the autumn. I’m not one who is big on extreme temperatures; not the hot, humid, hazy days of summer or the bitter, biting, days of winter. Sadly for me, those sticky, sweaty summer temperatures stick around longer than anything else. We’ll finally get fall temperatures…in mid to late November. In the meantime, I’ll keep myself tucked inside my spice scented home, and pretend.

What about you? What is your favorite season? Do you share my love of fall or do you think I’m insane because fall means that summer is ending and winter is coming?