Fall leaves, fall!

Autumn is my favorite time of year. There is nothing that quite compares to the first crisp feeling in the air that signals for one to begin unpacking winter clothes. My husband Mike and I, along with Edward, are traveling to New Jersey later this week to see the beautiful fall foliage, and visit with Mike's family as well. Virginia Beach, for the most part, pretty much skips the fall season; one day the leaves are green, and the next the branches are completely bare. Needless to say, I am looking forward to viewing REAL fall colors for the first time! A few of the reasons I love autumn are as follows:

*the aforementioned crispness in the air

*pumpkin patches

*the need to wear a sweater when going outdoors

*hot cocoa

*shorter days and longer nights

*waking up while its still dark

*mellow fall sunlight in my living room

*gathering huge bouquets of autumnal flowers

*the promise of what follows autumn...Christmastime!!

*the first eggnog being sold in stores

*and sharing my first cup of eggnog with my sister Madeleine...a fun little tradition!

In my opinion, blog posts with no pictures are a little boring, so I looked online and found some gorgeous photos. You must excuse the amount of pictures; each new one I saw was more beautiful than the last, and I couldn't decide between them all!

Hopefully after our trip I'll have some of my own pictures to post...

I also love the number of poems that describe the grandeur of autumn...this one by William Bliss Carman captured me, and I always get little thrills when I read it.

A Vagabond Song

There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood-

Touch of manner, hint of mood;

And my heart is like a rhyme,

With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time.

The scarlet of the maples can shake me like the cry

Of bugles going by.

And my lonely spirit thrills

To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills.

There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir;

We must rise and follow her,

When from every hill of flame

She calls and calls each vagabond by name.