Considering Fall

What do you do to get ready for fall?  Do you adjust your mindset?  Do you enter the season reluctantly or with gusto?  

When the September calendar page is turned, do you think of your own school days? 

I used to until I spent so many additional years teaching middle school.  I still feel a happy lift when I see a school bus, but I am glad that I don't have to go to school anymore.  I DO associate fall with reading and writing and I noticed that students were sharper and more eager to work with words at the beginning of the school year than they were in the spring.

Maybe the poetic scenes of autumn compel us to hunker down with books, schedule our lives with an August-to-August planner, or take our thoughts to paper in the form of a daily journal.  Maybe we pour over seasonal recipes or buy a real magazine in order to stimulate our autumn jazz.

Something that matters to me as September begins is fabric.  When I was growing up, my mother, my sister, and I went to the fabric store to choose patterns and cloth for our back-to-school wardrobes.  Fabric stores used to cater to seamstresses more than crafters and we bought wool, calico, muslin, and corduroy.  I don't know how my mother managed all the school sewing before I learned to sew.  Even then she completed most of my dresses, skirts, blouses, and pants.  She even willingly sewed cheerleading skirts for the squad members who did not have sewing mothers.  Have you been to a fabric store lately?

 

Speaking of fibers and fabrics, do you refit your bed when there is a nip in the air?  One year we had a few cold days in September (this is common in Colorado) and even though I knew we still had some very warm days ahead, I went to a department store and bought new flannel sheets, a flannel duvet cover, and a flannel nightgown.  It was perfect for a few days, until the weather warmed up again and the percale sheets  had to be put back on the mattress. (Click on percale to find a place to get supreme sheets!  I just discovered Parachute!) 


We need a new bed.  Ours is too hard.  Even at the campy conference center in New Zealand, where the furniture was sparse and the mattress was covered in plastic, I slept better because it was soft.  We've always believed a firm mattress was best for our backs, but I do not have perfect posture after sleeping on a hard bed for so long.  We're going for soft.  No foam because it makes for disruptive rollovers and my husband shifts and changes position often.  No, I want a cushy mattress and lovely sheets.  Maybe that will be our Christmas gift to each other, a cozier bed.  Bedtime has served our marriage well.  Smile.  What do you change about your sleeping spot when the weather turns?

Finally, my fall mindset must include beverages.  Because we are long time coffee drinkers, I often forget to treat myself to a mug of hot chocolate.  If you haven't had any lately, make some over the stove.  Warm milk, cocoa powder, sugar or honey stirred together with a wooden spoon create a loving treat. Hot-spiced cider is delicious and it makes the house smell like Granny's.  Do you ever go to sleep at night and dream of your morning coffee?  I do.  I like a mild roast and prefer my coffee perked.  I am shopping for a new percolator.

I know I am NOT too busy when I find myself drinking a few cups of tea throughout the day. Fall brings perfect beverage weather.

It was hot yesterday.  Five granddaughters roared around in the backyard, using child-size garden tools to make the lovely display below.  Later, they gathered around the dining room table and ate burritos and melon.  They had room for cookies, too.  I don't think they are thinking about autumn's approach yet, but I believe their teamwork and the masterpiece they left for me to find reveals that they sense change is in the air.

Please share your fall feelings with me, your vision and your anticipation.