Fall Favorites

We are now in my favorite time of the year.  The leaves are turning colors and falling off the trees, there is a chill in the air, pumpkin-flavored goodies are in abundance, and the holidays are close enough for anticipation, but not close enough to induce anxiety or cause crowds at the major retailers.  All of that is coming, though.

My least favorite things about this time of year are daylight savings time and the needless stress that is associated with procrastinating on Christmas shopping. The carb-induced coma that stretches from Halloween through New Year’s Day (actually March if we’re being honest) is not very pleasant either, but we are doing our best to avoid that this year.

Thankfully, these things are easily outweighed by my favorite things about autumn: sweatshirts, candles, sleeping in socks, baking (and eating!) seasonal treats, hot chocolate before bed, and the warmth that greets you when you walk in the toasty house from a chilly evening.

And the leaves!  The leaves are my very favorite part of the season and this is because every single year I seem to forget how beautiful they were the year before.  Sometimes when I am driving down Fairmont Drive on my way to or from work, I just can’t believe my good fortune of being born and living my life in a region where the leaves change color every fall. 

One of my good friends from pharmacy school grew up in South Alabama, near the coast, and had never seen fall leaves until our first year of pharmacy school.  I remember riding in the back seat of some one else’s car with her while she stared out the window, not saying anything, as we drove down the street.   When some one asked her why she was being so quiet, she told us that she had never seen colorful fall leaves in real life and couldn’t believe how beautiful they were.  She was absolutely mesmerized and I have seen them differently ever since.

Last weekend we went to the arboretum to do some walking and see the changing leaves.  It was beautiful, even though the sky was a bit overcast.

You can’t really tell from the pictures, but the tree I took pictures of from underneath was the most vibrant-colored tree I have seen.  It was a reddish-orange and looked almost neon from a distance.  I do wish we could prolong this season for much, much longer!