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Ah, fall. That season that so many in the world look forward to and wait all year to experience. I have lived my whole life in New England, in the heart of the NH White Mountains to be exact
where most people suffer through summer just to get a glimpse of the fall foliage.
As a native New Englander my relationship with fall is complicated. Unlike most people who live in NH, I am a summer girl through and through. I despise winter and everything it stands for, so as the too few summer days fade away and those first hints of color come to the trees around my house, and my daughter starts posting all her pumpkin spice memes I am torn.
Most people think because I love warm weather so much, I must hate fall, but that is not true. I am drawn to the coziness of the season, and I have been known to sip a pumpkin latte once and awhile. I how all the houses with their lights on earlier and many with first time wood fires for
the season look so inviting and just beg you to enter and curl up by the fire drinking hot cocoa. I love to pull out my crockpot and make hearty chili and stews to warm you on cold afternoons. Not to mention the color. On good foliage seasons the mountains will look like a canvas on a wall. Fall, speaks to me showing me how to release the old to get ready for the new that will come in the spring. There is a lot to love.
However, also as a New Englander fall brings with it other less welcome things. First to mind are all the leaf peepers. Don’t get me wrong I don’t hate tourists, but in the short fall season the tour busses, and those embarking out on their own can gum up the works on any given day. I live near a covered bridge, and I will all but have to stop using that route to get to where I am going, because it will be filled with people in awe at the ancient marvel with no understanding that it is still a working road. Another thing that brings my love of fall down several notches is that it heralds the time for chores to be added. We burn wood, so we must get our wood in before the winter, we need to clean out the gardens and ready those for winter, not to mention any weatherproofing we must do to our house. And, since I hate the cold, it signals that my world will soon be limited to only inside venues until sometime in May.
So, you can see that my relationship with fall really is complicated. What I have decided to try and do this year, is appreciate the season in the present and try not to get too far ahead and dread what is coming next. I’m out to get a pumpkin latte and a cider donut, which should help.
Coming up we have Caro Kinkead with her thoughts on the season.
And also check out from Caro: Preptober is upon us, and folks are preparing for the madness of November. Looking for some support for NaNoWriMo? Find it here, on sale for $1.99 for a limited time. https://books2read.com/surviving30days
