Like it or Not… It’s Fall, Y’all

 Fall Leaves

I noticed it this weekend.  The crispness in the air.  Cool breezes in the morning and evenings.  The sudden desire to make oatmeal cookies and apple pies and pots of chili.

It feels like Fall, y’all.  

And it is barely August.

School hasn’t even started yet. 

And then I noticed it.  The tree down the street with leaves already starting to turn.  This tree is my weather gauge for the seasons.   The neighbors probably think I am some sort of ultra-nosy neighbor, always taking pictures of their tree, but that tree is my gauge of what is to come.   It is always the first tree to have leaves in the Spring, the first leaves to begin turning in the Fall, and consequently the first tree to lose its leaves a few weeks later.

I was not ready to see those leaves turning so soon.  

I guess that first crisp breeze of Fall makes me go into a panic of all of the things I haven’t done yet.  The short season of warm weather and sunshine here in Maine is both beautiful and cruel all at the same time.  After being cooped up for months we are lured outside in Spring by the most perfect temperatures and climate only to be eaten alive by insects of many varieties.  Then we need the air conditioner for a couple of weeks.  The bugs start to ease off for after that and then it is cold again.  Every day that it isn’t raining is spent outside – camping, fishing, picnicking, swimming.

The crisp air reminds me that I haven’t painted my steps outside yet or pressure washed the house.  It reminds me that we only have a few weeks before the first good frost kills off the garden that we are so thoroughly enjoying right now and sharing with friends and neighbors.  It reminds me that we still haven’t built the deck we’ve been planning or had that yard sale we keep talking about.  It reminds me that we need to top off the fuel oil tank. Ugh.

The weeks leading up to September will be a flurry of activity for our house: squeezing in one last short camping trip before school starts, working on the above-mentioned projects, and trying to enjoy what is left of the fleeting Summer.

I love Fall.  I’ve always loved Fall.  But I am so not ready for it.  Well, except maybe the oatmeal cookies.

 

**Update. The Husband informed me that the fuel oil tank has already been topped off.  Whew.  

 

Jennifer Collins

About Jennifer Collins

Jennifer is a mom with a day job and she likes to write about her victories and messes along the way. She is living an adventurous life as a Georgia transplant learning to thrive in Maine, with a strong Southern accent that screams that she is "from away" and a new-found love for lobster rolls and timely snow plows. Jennifer's writing has been featured on BlogHer, iVillage Australia, Daddy Doin' Work, and Mamapedia.