I love fall

I love October. I think it may be my favorite month. It got me thinking about other things I love in the fall:

1. Pumpkin spice coffee. I usually drink dark roasts with a touch of cream, but I make an exception here. Add a maple walnut scone and you have perfection.

2. New York City. For some reason I've been making a fall pilgrimage here that last couple of years. Don't have one in the books for this year, yet. Maybe I better get on the ball.

3. Caramel apple with nuts. Not a candied apple. Ask my husband what the difference is. Thirteen years ago on the very day I gave birth to our son, he brought me the wrong kind from the street fair in the town where we lived. For some reason this story this story gets retold every year on my son's birthday.

4. The tree-covered hills near my house. I take note of their color change every day on my walk/run.

5. Soup. All kinds. Here at the Wood house, we have Survivor Soup Thursdays. I am not a huge Survivor fan, but it is something we watch as a family. This week we are having a double header: Pumpkin Chowder on Thursday and African Chicken Peanut Soup on Friday (when we are, for some inexplicable reason, going to watch Spaceballs.)

6. First frost and the end of allergy season. Self-explanatory.

7. Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday. I love that there is a holiday all about being grateful.

8. Back-to-school. It feels like a fresh start--more so than New Year's. Plus the kids are back in school, and I can get more work done.

9. Fall colors. If you've seen my paintings, you'll see that my palette is a fall palette. Good thing that my first exhibit is in October.

10. My grandmothers. Not to be morbid here: they both died in the fall. And combined with All Soul's Day on November 1st, I find myself feeling their spirits about me. It's a warm, comforting feeling.