Try as I may, I have not been able to shake the melancholy feeling of wishing that the summer was over.  I know: blasphemy!  But, as much as I love the summer: laying out in the sun, the feel of sand between my toes, the healthy sun-kissed glow of my skin, the seemingly endless amount of daylight (notice a pattern here? lol), I can’t help but feel excitement in anticipation of what is right around the corner: autumn.  I think autumn may in fact be my favorite season, actually, it definitely is.  There’s nothing like the slight chill in the air that it brings (slight chill, not the frigidity of winter), or the feeling of leaves crunching beneath your feet.  To this day I will still occasionally stomp on leaves, sort of the same way that I’ll still try to make pigeons fly away by different means (running, stomping, swinging something at them, etc), although sadly, they have become immune to such tactics.  When I was a child, we would spend hours in the forest picking up fallen pinecones, which we would then go home and decorate the house with (after we decorated the pinecones of course, with glitter and sometimes colored glues).  I’m not sure which was more fun, the picking or the decorating…they were both a lot of fun.

The start of autumn also brings the different farm activities.  I, personally, love apple picking (I also love apples).  I remember the first time I did it, I was young, so I had no idea how many different kinds of apples there actually were, and that you could taste all of them at the orchard while picking and choosing.  And of course, pumpkin picking, because, who does not smile when that thought pops into their minds.  The thought always makes me smile and remember the fragrance of roasting the pumpkin seeds in the oven after carving (ok, attempting to carve) a jack-o’-lantern; the end result of hunting for the perfectly shaped pumpkin and hayrides, which always seem like more fun than they actually are. 

I am already dreaming about the different shades of browns, oranges, and other earthy tones that will once again be fashionable to wear, the feel of pants on legs that have been bare since the start of the first heat wave.  I cannot wait to wear jeans and boots again (don’t forget sweaters!), and to have hair that does not ruin upon the very hint of humidity.  I also cannot wait until my office is heated rather than air conditioned, because it might as well be winter in my building.