It’s Fall ya’ll, or at least, our version of it. Here in north
Louisiana we have four seasons: pre-summer, summer, deep summer, and
summer-isn’t-over-yet summer. Winter? What’s that? There have been times when
we wore short sleeves on Christmas Day. Sure, from January through March the
temperature gets a little cooler, but I can only remember once when the
temperature dropped to single digits during the day. It takes very special conditions
to freeze the Red River, like during the Great Freeze of December 1983.
Maybe I exaggerate (But not about the Great Freeze. We still
talk about that event down here). No, I’m not exaggerating. Not at all. Sure, I’ve
seen snow in June...in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. It snowed on my birthday
one year. I can’t remember which year.
Fall is when the high drops from 100 degrees to 75 degrees
in one day and the cooler temperature struggles to return the next day but just
can’t quite beat the heat. We love this time of year because it comes as a
great relief from the burning hell of summer. So Fall is here in North
Louisiana. I always look forward to this day for months...and months...and
months.
So in homage to Fall, here are a few things that make Fall
special for me:
1.
The smell of firewood burning. We don’t really
need the heat from the fireplace. It’s for ambiance. If we get chilled, we
throw on another layer of clothing. That’s all we really need.
2.
The crispness of the air in the morning. As I
said before, the cooler weather is a relief from the burning fire of he... I
mean summer. I love to breathe in the bright, crisp air on a fall morning. I
luxuriate in the smell of leaves on the ground instead of mowed grass. I’m
allergic to grass clippings.
3.
Cool-weather comfort foods. It seems odd to eat
chili and drink hot cocoa when the temperature is over 80 degrees. So we wait
and wait until the thermometer drops to 79 or below. Then we indulge. I know
it’s truly Fall when I pull out my Daddy’s chili recipe.
4.
Wearing jackets and boots. I admit it: I collect
jackets. It’s an obsession. I love outerwear. I’d wear a jacket, a blazer, a
cardigan, a shawl, etc., every day, all year if I could. And boots? I love
pulling my booties out of the deep, dark hole where they’ve been hiding for
months. I can’t wear them in the summers (yes, plural). I inherited hot feet
from my Daddy.
5.
Decorating the house for Fall. This is my
absolute favorite thing about Fall. My daughter comes over and helps me pull
the decorations out of the still-hot attic. It gives me the feeling that Fall
has arrived even if it hasn’t.
I love this time of year. I think I’ll go make myself a cup
of hot apple cider.
