I Be-leaf Autumn is My Favorite Season

Ah, my favorite thing about Autumn?

EVERYTHING.
When I was growing up, we lived in a very temperate zone, with four distinct seasons. They eked into each other at the beginning or the end at times, but Winters were generally cold with snow, (sometimes less, sometimes more). Springs started out windy and the temperatures were moderate. The Summers were hot, usually sunny and humid.

The Falls were cool and crisp.

When I was a child, I’d play outdoors. In the Autumn, I would go around the edges of the yard and gather all sorts of different seeds from the plants and grasses, pretending to make stew. (I did it enough that some wondered if I was making witch’s brew!) I just liked the different textures and colors.

When I was a teen, we moved from that house to an old house with a wondrous yard, full of different kinds of trees, ornamental grasses and hydrangeas. My mother taught me to make arrangements of the dried grasses and flowers and they were lovely. Later on, in other houses, I’d add the brightness of Bittersweet and whatever else I could find that dried well, such as Baby’s Breath.

I moved out west as an adult and the first thing that hit me in SE Idaho was the scarcity of trees and the lack of colorful Autumns. I soon moved to Colorado and the same thing hit: they brag about “Golden Aspen” but in reality, it’s a bunch of yellow leaves.
Which brings me to the point of my most favorite thing about Autumn: Leaves!

In the aforementioned old house in Virginia, there was an incredible variety of trees and bushes. All of the leaves were of different shapes and sizes, plus the colors were incredible. I tried many times to take photos of patches of ground where they had fallen, but snapshots on film never did it justice. I said just the other day how I wish we had digital cameras back then.

When I lived in Colorado, I had a small townhouse yard, but I planted as much as I could and for color, I had a high-bush cranberry. I hope the people who lived there afterwards kept it.

It was a hard decision to move to Kentucky, but one redeeming factor was that I hoped that being so close to where I grew up in Maryland and Northern Virginia that I would see real Autumnal leaves again.

We have an unusually glorious Autumn year this year! We had the rainiest Summer on record and in between that, a great deal of heat. I assume the combination has led to the fantastic colors that we have this year. Most of the Falls have been so disappointing; this one has made it up to me!
I didn’t get out to take pictures before it rained hard again, but this was posted by a former co-worker from behind her house:

Halloween is always fun for me. Now comes Thanksgiving, which is so rich in family and friends, gathering to enjoy each other and good food. It transcends any differences between ideas religions, creeds. Here, I have found all sorts of grasses and cattails to make lovely arrangements to add to the atmosphere.

And this year, we’ll have pretty leaves and scenes to usher us into preparing the feast.

Do you decorate for Autumn?