I LOVE Summer. I love it so much that I've always contemplated moving somewhere that is summer weather almost all year round, but that just hasn't been an option. Maybe some day.
I LOVE everything about the summer. Waking up in the morning with the sun all ready for us to play, already warm temperatures, shorts, tank tops and flip flops or maybe just a bathing suit and a cover-up is all that is needed for the day. The smell of sunscreen filling the air, iced coffees and iced teas all day, and the kids running around and playing outside for hours. Do we sweat? Of course, but who cares when you can run under a sprinkler or jump into a pool, or if you're someone who is able to, just run inside to some air conditioning for a break from the heat. When ice cream and ice pops are acceptable snacks at anytime of the day... maybe even to substitute for a meal and when playing outside, catching lightning bugs, taking walks or riding bikes after dinner until it's dark out is the norm. Beach days, bbqs, outside meals, swimming for hours on end in the pool and the days thankfully seem to never end. Then one day, it all does. The leaves start to turn, daylight gets shorter, dark hours get longer and the weather begins to change. And although it is nice sometimes to experience all the magic and wonder of all four seasons, I know deep inside I'll always be a summer girl at heart.
Fall is a season that I've had to grow to become okay with. The good side to Fall: Football. Yep, that's right... I love football. A nice sunny day with windows open and a nice warmer breeze passing through the house, good snacks to eat, some beer, and the Sunday game on = my kind of Fall day. Now with the kids, I've come to enjoy all the other perks of Fall. Playing outside is still fun and we aren't sweating for hours and watching the kids play and jump in the leaves never gets old.... until we have to rake those leaves. Well not we.....just Jason and Matthew. And maybe now Ryan will join in this year. Apple picking, pumpkin picking, all the Fall Festivals and farms we can find, and the fun hayrides. Our fire pit is a must, along with apple cider and apple cider donuts, and although I'm not overly obsessed with it like some others I know are, I do love a good Pumpkin Spiced coffee every now and then, as well as Oktoberfest beers, BUT my own rule is not one sip before the season changes to Fall. Sometimes I even hold out until October, depending on the feel of the weather. I also can't forget my good friends Cabernet and Pinot Noir. When it comes to wine, the seasons guide my preferences and when the weather starts getting colder, that's my cue to switch over. But the warmer it stays into September, the longer I wait. I hold onto Summer for as long as I can. And so I've come to realize that I really don't mind the season changing from Summer to Fall, I just know what comes next after fall....Winter. And that's definitely the down side. I cry at the first snowfall. And not because it's beautiful...because its snowing and it's cold and that's just not my thing. Especially when it happens in October, because we all know that can and does happen. And nope, I am absolutely NOT a Winter girl.... at all.
But with the seasons changing, I've learned to appreciate them in a new light. Anything new, whether it be the first day of a week, first day of a month, or first day of a new year, can be seen as a fresh start, bringing a sense of hope for what lies ahead. And with the world the way it is right now, we can use all the hope we can get. Hope for change, hope for good, and hope that all of this madness comes to an end. For me.... for my life, the start of a new season means something plain and simple.....I'm alive. Because last year at this time I was undergoing radiation treatments for stage 3 breast cancer, after months of other aggressive treatments. And although we all don't know what will become of us from one day to the next, just a year ago, we, as in my family and friends and everyone I know were all hoping and praying for me, but we didn't know for sure either. And although I'm considered disease free at this time, there's always a chance of recurrence.. And there a chance of no recurrence. But the one thing I can be grateful for at the start of a new season, I'm alive and well enough right now to be here and to experience it with my family and friends and those who hoped and prayed for me and still continue to do so.
These days, as the seasons change, I'm looking at them through different lenses. My new lenses now let me embrace the many good and positive things that a new season can bring. Not necessarily the big things going on in the world today, which we know right now would be nice, but the small little everyday things that have become clearer. Life isn't about waiting for your favorite time to return. It's learning to live within the present situation, however you choose to do it. I know for me - my fresh start this new Fall season will be living in the moment more, not worrying about things I cannot control, being proud of the decisions we make for ourselves as a family and for our own children no matter what anyone else is doing or may think, and when appropriate I will stand up for what I believe in... to do my part to try to be an advocate when warranted and to help to make changes where I feel that changes are needed to be made.
So, although it's a precursor to what happens next (my dreaded Winter) I guess I have to admit that I kind of do love to see the fall foliage. There's a spot on the Delaware River up in northern New Jersey that Jason and I used to go to a lot throughout the years and when the leaves change up there, the scenery is pretty amazing. I always said I would love to take a Fall Foliage kayak ride up there, down the Delaware, but have never gotten the chance to do so. Maybe this season I will..... as soon as my arms heal. Or I'll just sit back and let Jason do the paddling.......... :0)
What is your hope for the fall season?
As always, be safe out there.....
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