Fall Traditions

Fall is my favorite time of year.  Maybe because I was born in the fall? (I was also married in the fall.) For a long time I lived in Southern California where there isn't really a "fall".  They have a hot dry season (Summer) and a cooler, sometimes rainy season (Winter) but the differences are slight.  Living in Arkansas for 19 years, I love having four distinct seasons.  Fall comes earlier in the north but it arrives here for sure in October.

For me it's Fall, not Spring or New Years, when you start fresh and make new plans, do something different or visit a new place.  Weird?  Hear me out. I came from a farming family.  Summer was nonstop work.  Hay had to be put up. Lots of crops tended and harvested.  We might take a half day off for 4th of July but there was so much work that needed done we didn't do much else. In the Winter cows had to be fed every single day. No time for going or doing anything else.  Spring is for new baby calves and that was also a round the clock job.  It was Fall when we had time for trips or new projects.  As farmers my parents also got paid in the fall (when crops and cows sold) so we might have more income to be able to do a little something.  Add to the farm cycle the fact that school schedules always started in mid September (I know now they start mid or early August for most).  So, Fall makes me want to redecorate, start a new exercise program, make lists and travel a bit even though I'm not bound by a farm or school schedule.

Some of the family this summer

Our family trip in July to Old Faithful really made me remember going to Yellowstone National Park on day trips when I was in High School.  I  remember walking on the board walk around Old Faithful Geyser on my 16th birthday, sporting my best outfit.  October in Yellowstone is beautiful and usually only visited by folks who live near by.

Go ahead, rake leaves, go to the fair or a pumpkin patch to celebrate Fall.  I'll be making Christmas lists, deep cleaning the pantry and learning yoga.