fall's first kiss

It was just yesterday when we embraced summer with open-arms. Eagerly awaiting the kiss of sun on our cheeks, the sweet/sour taste of blackberry on our tongues, the rambles through woods, bare feet hanging off docks, immersed in the cool, shimmering water. Summer passed too quickly. Some would argue that it wasn't over yet. But I know better. The sweet, warm, lazy {or not so lazy} days of summer are behind us for another year. Next year we will shake off the chill of winter and begin embracing summer all over. But for now, it is behind us.

Fall is coming. I can feel it in the air. In the cool breeze, now chilly enough to be barred behind doors and windows, instead of sweeping the house clean with the air smelling as fresh as wild-flowers in the fields. In the way my toes curl up when I step onto a soft rug. In the way I automatically grab a fuzzy blanket when I step out of bed in the mornings.

I have always loved fall. From the first time anyone asked me what my favorite season was, I would immediately quip: "Fall!". And it is. Nothing can compare with the smells of pumpkin, cinnamon and fresh bread in the oven. The feel of your favorite sweaters and warm scarves with jeans and boots to stay warm on those chilly days. The chilly, fresh, unexplainably invigorating scent when you go outside to rake leaves.

So even with cold toes, rainy days, soggy barn chores, wet straw, leaves to rake {which, hey! raking leaves is fun!}, chilly fingers, cold mornings, frosty water buckets, chilling winds and shivery walks, I am welcoming fall with open arms, as it comes in the door with a welcoming kiss.