By Shanna Hatfield
I've been dragging my feet getting into the whole autumn thing this year.
Due to a series of unfortunate events (think abscessed tooth, five rounds of antibiotics, and a root canal), the summer sped past before I had a chance to enjoy it.
When the evenings began to cool and the mornings took on a nippy air, I stuck my fingers in my ears and hummed Beach Boys tunes.
I didn't want to say goodbye to summer, since I barely got to enjoy it.
The day the workers began picking apples in the orchard across the road from our house, I purposefully hid in my office, not willing to admit autumn arrived on crisply scented breezes.
Then I made the mistake of driving to the city and visiting one of my favorite stores. Filled with lotions and skin-care potions, I love wandering through the store, sniffing the new scents.
A sales associate must have seen me coming from a mile away. The second I stepped inside, she beckoned me to a display of fall-scented lotions and candles that wove some sort of hypnotic spell around me, sucking me into pumpkin and spice scented bliss.
After selecting a few bottles of seasonal lotions to tuck away for later (when I finally caved to reality), I arrived home to find a catalog from my favorite candle company full of scratch-and-sniff samples.
Two pages into the catalog, I may have began drooling, but I'm not admitting to anything.
Resistance to the arrival of fall became both futile and fruitless at that point.
In truth, this has been one of the most beautiful Octobers I can remember.
With the sun shining like a golden beacon overhead, and temperatures that are in the eighties, it's hard not to enjoy the glorious days of autumn.
Typically, we'd have much cooler temps along with rainy days by now.
Maybe Mother Nature knew I needed gently coaxed into autumn this year.
If so, I'm doubly thankful for such an incredibly breath-taking start to the season.
Admittedly, October is one of my favorite months of the year. Warm apple cider, the crunch of colorful leaves beneath my shoes, and the brilliantly tart tang lingering in the air make it hard not to enjoy fall.
What is the first thing that signals fall to you?
***
A hopeless romantic with a bit of sarcasm thrown in for good measure, Shanna Hatfield is a best-selling author of clean romantic fiction written with a healthy dose of humor. In addition to blogging and eating too much chocolate, she is completely smitten with her husband, lovingly known as Captain Cavedweller. Shanna creates character-driven romances with realistic heroes and heroines. Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.”
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October is just about everyone's favorite month in Arizona because the temperature finally dips below 100 and we can go outside again without being toasted on the spot!
ReplyDeleteThat is great, Patricia! I lived in Tucson for a while in my college years and can well understand what a relief October would be from the heat! :)
DeleteI'm with Patricia. Here in the Central Valley in CA we are grateful for the few days that get into the low 90s. We had 80s for a bit, and it was so nice!
ReplyDeleteI could live in a world where it is perpetually 80 and sunny!
DeleteDown here in Kiwiland we're coming out of winter and today is a beautiful spring day!! I just love all the seasons to be honest.
ReplyDeleteIt is fun to watch each season arrive, isn't it? Although I always enjoy the arrival of spring the most because it means the cold, dreary months of winter are finally over! Happy spring to you!
DeleteHere in Missouri it's very, very cold
ReplyDeleteSorry it's cold in your corner of the world. Wishing for some lovely fall weather to head your way!
DeleteOctober is beautiful here in E. TN at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains where I live. It's also my birthday and anniversary months. The colors change daily. But I find a sadness to it too, because I know that winter and cold are around the corner. It was the driest September on record for us, and October has been rain, rain, rain with more rain on the way. High winds and rain coming are way tonight and tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI have a love/hate relationship with autumn for the same reason, Kathy! I love the season but dread the thought of cold, dreary days ahead with the arrival of winter. Enjoy the beauty of each day and stay inside with that approaching storm! Take care!
DeleteHere is Texas our first sign of autumn is a break in the temps!! Finally can turn off the AC and open the doors and windows. I will admit that I miss autumn the most from growing up in Finger Lakes area of New York State. The apples, pumpkins, squash and the smell of the wet, damp, rotting leaves there is nothing like it and then watching the deer in the freshly harvest corn fields. What better way to spend the morning enjoying that first cup of coffee? Here in Texas it is just being able to open the doors and windows again!!!
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