Fall longing

Fall is the season of bloggers. Every blogger and her mother is celebrating the solstice today, the crisp morning air, the hot apple cider to come, pumpkin everything, hearty crock pot meals, cozy sweaters and knee high boots.

It makes me so jealous.

Here in Texas, it’s supposed to be 90 all week (or, as the radio announcers like to say, “we’re looking at highs as low as 90”). The past few days have been beautiful, to be fair. Sunny but not scorching. Slightly cooler evenings. I had my screen door open yesterday morning for hours, something I haven’t been able to do since about March.

There’s something about the change of seasons that makes us sit up and take notice. They provide quarterly deadlines, sure. But they also alter our surroundings just enough to force thoughts of upcoming change, and mortality, and birth, and an examination of where we are now as compared to this time last year. Where we want to be this time next year.

I’ve been struggling lately to really live here in Austin, to try not to think so much about where I might be at this time next year. Maybe next year, I’ll be pulling on jeans without sweating. Maybe I’ll be drinking hot, spiced, possibly even pumpkin beverages. But this year, I live in Texas. Where highs in the 90s count as a chill in the air.

So I will not be wearing wooly tights and knee high boots. The coat I’m expecting to arrive today will hang in my closet until November, at least. But I do have plans to finally make some progress on my patio. I’ll pot some outdoor plants. When everyone else is harvesting the last of the summer’s bounty, I’ll hang paper lanterns in anticipation of many patio evenings to come. And hey, maybe someday, sitting outside will even require a sweater.

(Photo by me, a few falls ago)