I love the fall. It is by far my favorite season and has been for as long as I can remember. I love the smells and the colors. I love the crispness in the air that you can almost taste. I love football. (And maybe not the games as much as the prospect of tailgaiting and chip-laden gatherings, and beer!) I love cardigan sweaters and boots. I love apple cider and chicken pot pies. I love it all.
Being born and raised in Texas, I have always remembered fall as a bit of an anomaly when it comes to the weather. While the rest of the world has four seasons, Texas only has two: hot season and cold season. We may have about three whole weeks of "true fall weather" when all is said and done. Here in the Borderland, it may be even shorter than that. But when it does happen, it is so wonderfully perfect and I always look forward to it with much anticipation.
This evening my little family went out for a short walk and playtime around the neighborhood before supper. Pushing my son on his tricycle, I couldn't help but notice a change in the air. I'm not sure exactly what it was that made me think it--maybe the color of the sky, the cloud coverage over the mountains with the cool, gentle breeze, or the faint smell of home cooked meals pouring out of the surrounding neighborhood houses--but I felt fall today.
Of course we are nowhere near the real deal yet. Temperatures are still set to be in the upper-90s for the forseeable future, and though the Halloween decorations are already out in the stores, it is far from pumpkin patch time just yet. But tonight I let myself become enveloped in giddiness over the short-lived season that lies ahead.
This excitement totally escaped me last year. A year ago, I knew I was three weeks out from bidding my husband good-bye on our first deployment. I was dreading the signs of fall and hoping that September would never find me. The weeks before he left were filled with last minute visitors, appointments, major household errands, and late night conversations--mostly ending with me getting a bit overly-emotional about the whole ordeal. After the dreaded day had eventually come and gone, I jam-packed my children's and my own schedules so full of activities to keep us occupied that I hardly remembered to come up for air before Christmastime. Of course some nice memories were made between point A and point B, but for the most part, I had missed out on my favorite season....stupid deployment.
But what a difference a year can make! And praise God, in my case, a very happy difference. So hurry up, Fall. I'm ready and waiting for you this time :)
