Pumpkin in the Air

Summer was a very brief thing here in the Northwest. I shivered my way through the 4th of July, sweated a few times in the following two months, and find myself standing at the beginning of September and thinking I need to pull the "cold weather clothing bin" which admittedly does not have too much in it but there you go.

Autumn has arrived. There is a bite to the air. The rain is coming back. And you know what, I'm okay with that. Craig and I spent last evening after Ella had gone to bed for the night, watching Better Off Ted on Netflix (funny show - it's a shame it was cancelled after just a season and a half when drivel like According to Jim ran for 8 seasons). I was stretched out on the couch, cozy under a down throw and a warm cat in my lap. I had opened the window behind my head a crack to get a little air flow. I laid there for a few minutes post window-opening before it dawned on me that it officially smelled like fall. Yeah, it's September. Yeah, the stores are already changing the displays from school supplies to Halloween. Yeah, the Pumpkins Spice Latte is back at Starbucks. It didn't sink in that our brief summer was fading out and we were ebbing back into cold weather until I smelled that damp, sweet fall smell spilling in from the window.

I should be upset that summer is leaving us once again and we're in for a long wet season but I'm not. I'm inexplicably happy. This damp, cold season means jackets and scarves, baking bread and making soups, cute stockings and jackets for Ella, football, brisk walks down to the Sound on the weekend with the whole family (minus Pecan who probably wouldn't tolerate a leash so much...haha), and warm homes against the cold outside. I don't know why this makes me happier than it usually does. It could be because we live in a place that gets a little colder/damper and therefore more seasonal. It could be because this will be Ella's first holiday season and I'm beyond excited for Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas experiences with my baby even though she won't get it and really won't care. It could be because I love where we are and I'm feeling settled potential about life.

Whatever the reason, I think it's a good time to make up a pot of yummy soup, put on fuzzy slippers, finish the night with a pumpkin latte, and revel in the season! :D