I Love Fall, But...

It isn't what you think.  It isn't all the leaves that need raking.  We've already dealt with that through the last few weeks of summer, thanks to the drought.  Then there's the fact that I only have one tree in my yard, so the amount of leaves it produces doesn't warrant a whole lot of raking.  Besides, this is Kansas, where the wind will blow them away eventually, not to mention that leaves aren't like unsightly fast food rappers and plastic cups.

I really do love fall.  It's my favorite season.  There are so many reasons to love it:  the brilliant colors of the changing leaves, from greens to yellows to golds to reds to browns...  Cool evenings that quickly turn to chill remind me of much younger times, when Friday nights were spent sitting in the bleachers and cheering at football games.  The start of school in the fall was a sign of new beginnings, and I still think of it that way.  It's invigorating!

There's so much to love about my favorite season.  But not everything about it is lovable.  We're in that limbo-like state where the AC is off, but so is the furnace.  Of course that does mean lower heating/cooling bills.  Just one more plus of the season!  Since most current weekday mornings I drive two grandkids to school, the first thing I'm going to do is throw on something to wear.  I don't plan to get out of the car, just drop them off in front of the building.  On the other hand, I'm not one of those people who can climb in the car in my pajamas and slippers, my hair not yet combed or, even worse, in curlers.  (Am I the only one who remembers pink foam curlers?)  No, it's fully dressed, although makeup is optional.

With early morning temps like the 51 degrees we started with this morning, I start off the day in a long sleeved shirt and long pants and jeans.  Oh, and recently I've changed to my favorite Reeboks, instead of sandals.  But within a few hours, I've switched to a t-shirt and capris, because the sun and with only one tree in the yard for shade--or leaf raking--has warmed up the house.  A few hours later, on one of the warmer 80 degree days we've been having, I might even change those capris to shorts...and flipflops for the feet.  When it's time to pick up the g-kids at school, I've changed back to capris.  I'm just not comfy at my age to be wearing shorts in public, unless it's my own yard.

I'd look forward to winter, when the only taking on and putting off is a heavy coat when going outside, or maybe an extra pair of socks or an added sweater on those really, really cold days, but really cold weather just makes me grumpy.  I do have to say though that I've found quite a lot of beauty in winter days, too, even without snow.  But I'll save that for another time.

So I guess I'll simply have to keep to two (or three) sets of clothes that I recycle throughout each day, at least until the daytime temps slip into the 60s or lower, and winter is breathing it's cold air down on us.  Before we know it, winter really will be here, and we'll be wondering where summer went.  It's inevitable. ;)

Fall used to have a different name, and why is autumn a mystery?