Monday, October 26, 2009

20SB Blog Swap - Crunch, Crunch, Swish

Hellooo there! I want to apologize first of all for posting that awful crap last week and promptly disappearing. I had a terrible week which inspired me to drive 12 hours to Indiana to spend the weekend loving all things Notre Dame with my old friends. I'll tell you all about it later...


Because today is not about me over here in the Fish Bowl... it's about Doniree! She is my lovely partner for the 20SB Blog Swap and she is taking over my blog. If you went to see me, I'm over at her place. But you should go over there anyway because she kind of rocks. And now, I give you Doniree...

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I love the simple beauty that is Autumn, how it feels like a whisper. The bright heat from summer has retreated, the bitter cold of winter hasn't stormed in yet. Autumn plays somewhere in the middle of the two, a quiet memory of things recent and a hushed whisper of things to come.

For those of you not in Minnesota right now (as our typically amazing fall has been something of a disappointment to those that love it), I've read a lot of posts lately praising all things autumn - the crisp air, the colorful trees, the taste of pumpkin (with the exception of you pumpkin-haters). And while I love giant hoodies and warm fleece as much as anyone else, my favorite thing about fall is one particular sound.

Leaves. The sound of leaves as they swirl above the ground, the sound the dried up leaves make as they crunch beneath my feet.

I love the times just before the streets are swept in the city in the fall, and walking along the edges of the streets, shuffling feet through and hearing the crunching and swishing of the leaves cracking beneath me.

Maybe it's because fall tends to be the Back to School time and for so many years, we spend fall preparing to start something new - a new grade, a new subject, a new goal. Something about fall makes me want to goal-set, not in big New Year's Resolutions kind of ways, but just in such a way that I simply, quietly take inventory of where I'm at and start to reconnect with the vision of where I want to be.

Life is busy. We move at quick paces, juggling, speeding, rushing. For me, Autumn is a time to pause, to let go of some things and let them fall (symbolism! yes!), to draw in a breath of the clean, crisp air, and exhale a little bit of lightness and simplicity, and of a clean start.

What's Autumn like where you live?

7 comments:

jenniferalaine said...

I'm in New England and the fall here is GORGEOUS. The trees all over campus are fiery red and yellow and orange and the leaves are falling... I can't walk into my house without crunching over them. I love the smells and sounds and foods, but I have to fight the urge to remind myself that this is just the calm before the storm that is New England winter.

Anonymous said...

Right now it is about 100 degrees. Not sure how I am going to adapt to the cold next month.

carissajaded said...

Beautiful post! I hail from Texas, and fall, more specifically, October is really the most tolerant time of year. There isn't any dramatic changing of the leaves, but it does cool down some, which is nice. For most people around here, fall can be summed up with one word... "Football."

doniree said...

Jenn - I keep hearing such amazing things about this New England fall and I'm dying to see it! Next year, we East Coast road trip, k?

justjp - Where are you that it's 100 degrees? Not gonna lie, I'm not envious!

carissajaded - I grew up in Memphis, so I absolutely know what you mean about the tolerable weather! Enjoy it and um ROLL TIDE :)

Holly said...

I love the fall, too. Growing up, I lived on Long Island, and falls were cool. I remember the smell of burning leaves the most. As a teenager, I lived in Georgia, and the falls were warm and rainy. Now I live near Washington DC, and it's beautiful right now.

Great post!

Heather said...

I love this post.

I wish Mother Nature would decide what she wants to do here in Louisiana.

Heather said...

I love this post.

I wish Mother Nature would decide what she wants to do here in Louisiana.