another autumn

Autumn has been been my favorite since I first realized how glorious it sounded for leaves to crunch under my feet as I walked home from the school bus stop.  It's been my favorite since my mom made crafts with puff paint and fabric fall leaves and wreaths full of gourds and acorns and festive ribbons.

Autumn is for September skies rich with beauty.  When the air is clear and full of change and promise and hope for more.  It's for listening to cold fronts rustling through trees and for open windows.  Curtains blowing in, house fresh with crisp air.

Autumn is for doing things out of the regular ebb and flow of life.  Like taking day trips to the Texas hill country, going outside to enjoy more hand-holding walks, and buying mums for your front porch. For wearing scarves and sweaters and colors that run warm and deep.

Autumn is for trips to the pumpkin patch to take family pictures and go on hayrides.  It's full of cozy, warm meals cooked in crock pots and spice candles burning while you snuggle under blankets.

Autumn is for pumpkin carving parties like we host every year.  It means friends and laughter and pumpkin guts in trash bags and kids playing in cabinets that they've deemed as spaceships.

Autumn is for giving thanks. For small intimate dinners with close friends to speak truth into our hearts about where we've been, what we hope for and where we have found gratitude.  It's for large family gatherings where there is too much food and kid-created chaos and holiday memories to be made.

Autumn is for pies baking in the oven, wearing home-made costumes and remembering my mother.  How close she feels when the air is cool and candles are glowing soft.