Dear Fall (or Autumn),

I am so glad you are back. The last 9 months have seen lots of change, whether it be in life, in the world or even in the weather (shoutout to the 4 seasons). Despite all that, you are and always will be my favorite season.

It’s not the pumpkin spice obsession or the cliche bonfire, cider mill sweatshirt and jeans weather. While those things are all perks of fall (aside from the pumpkin spice), my favorite thing about fall is it brings change. Not the scary, uncomfortable change that we get when we go back to school and feel like summer is being taken away, but the reliable, cozy kind of change.

The kind of change where you wake up in the morning and the leaves are starting to change and the dew is sparkling on the grass. The change in the air where it is slightly chilly, but the minute the sun hits your face, you are warmed instantly. The smell of leaves, cut grass, and dirt that signals nature is preparing for the chilly winter weather by getting one last sensation of open air.

It brings the comfort that the next few months are going to be the end of one year and the start of another, and we ourselves are preparing and letting our souls get one last warm day outside at the cider mill or apple orchard or in your yard in the fallen leaves.

Fall to me is like going to my happy place. It's colorful, it's cozy and it's predictable. Football will be played, the leaves will change and fall, I will go to school and get to watch the seasons change around the clock tower on my college campus. I will want to bake cookies and pies and fill the house with cinnamon and sugar. I will break out my coat and tall boots and go for a walk with my dog on the trial near my home and watch him chase the leaves like he did when he was a puppy, because even at 10, he still hasn’t figured them out.

Maybe this fall we need to be more like my dog and chase the thing that we have yet to figure out. The things that we were too busy in the summer to focus on, too cold in the winter to look at and too concerned with summer coming in the spring to pay attention to.

Fall is a time of change, so maybe we should take some time to look at that change we have been wanting. Everything around you is fairly reliable and sensually beautiful, so why not take the chance. Our lives are always so busy with the yesterday and tomorrow and the endless to-do lists. Why not focus on the present and embrace what God has blessed us with. I’m sure going to try because fall is one of the many things I am thankful for because it is the change of pace I and those around me need at just the right time.

Sincerely,

A Girl Born For Fall