Fall is Finally Here!

Not that we despise summer, but Maria in particular has been eagerly anticipating this fall with more relish than usual because this is the first fall in four years that she is not a) recovering from mono and a cross-country move or b) in the third trimester of pregnancy! And to awaken this morning feeling a chilly breeze briskly gusting over the comforter, to be able to snuggle down in the warm bed and breathe clean crisp air, to hear the rustle of the dying leaves as cool weather finally sweeps summer heat and humidity into the sea...all these portents of autumn that inspire steaming cups of gingerbread lattes and bring fragrant whiffs of burning wood and leaves...have at last arrived. In defiance of 90-degree weather in October (utterly preposterous!), Maria has been stubbornly baking apple pies, whisking up butternut bisque, and dressing the boys in cords and flannels as often as possible. She has been poring over soup, pumpkin, and Christmas cookie recipes trying to convince herself that there will come a time to savor these seasonal treats. She has been doggedly repairing an autumnal wreath that has been languidly hanging on our front door, drooping in the blazing rays of summer sun that beat upon our door all day long, which has been shedding crimson leaves, pinecones, acorns, and all as if groaning in defeat...this is not my weather, this is not my place! And yet...perhaps the next few drops of Gorilla Glue will be the last. Perhaps our wreath will hang proudly now, proclaiming to all who enter our cinnamon-spiced atmosphere, "Fall is finally here, and isn't it beautiful!"