sweater weather

I felt the first breezes of fall September 20th in Mississippi, and I wished it were truly sweater weather. On that day, the temperature was in the 70’s and the humidity was in the 60 percentile, so it almost felt like fall when the trees moved with the slight wind. We don’t get much seasonal change here in our sub tropical climate, but that breeze soothed my weary soul. When I walked outside that morning and pruned my roses, followed my dogs across the deck to our gazebo, we just breathed it in. The coolness, my current read, happy dogs at my feet, and a lap quilt made that day just right.

Today is a little cooler still, so I am going back inside to grab my glasses and a book and make a cup of hot tea to sip outside. Smiling to myself, I think, “Autumn is sweater weather.”

I have a visceral reaction to the pumpkin orange, gourd white, gingko yellow, and deep reds of autumn. Against a landscape caught in between the seasons, shades of fall sweep in waves of colors over the land like a giant patchwork quilt. Everywhere I look, the leaves drift crazily to the ground. In my cold weather is coming trance, I dream of all things autumn.

Here in Mississippi, September is when the light begins to change. From the last of the steamy summer days, hot buggy nights become lingering fireside chats instead. Afternoons take on a golden sheen with startling patterns bursting through the trees and haystacks drying in the fields. I respond by making apple pie and chili in the crock pot, then lighting a fire in the fire pit at night.

Later, October brings the fall color bloom, wakes the mountains. When we take October drives through evergreen mountain ranges punctuated with fall color, we spend whole days together appreciating the simple change of seasons. It is because we understand how precious each season in life is.

Every year gets a little sweeter, feels more important. I want to slow down sweater weather and not miss the possible moments, not wish them away or waste them on minutia. So I am writing it down, reminding us all to take notice.

When October turns to November, we’ll make those deep pots of vegetable soup simmering on the stove, inhale our fragrant pumpkin pies from the oven. Then our family will gather for a series of meals together, which my grandson calls The Thanksgiving Feasting. We’ll share happenings and reconnect and restore our relationships.

With seasons and gratefulness in mind, I started decorating for fall in early September with a few pumpkins from my collection and a mum on the front porch. I look forward to running through showers of drifting leaves with my grandkids soon. With great reverence for life, let’s savor every moment of autumn’s gathering time in a new world. Maybe most of us don’t live close to our scattered families anymore, so let’s also make the effort to reconnect this autumn season.

For the garden lover, pumpkins, gourds, and apples are ripe for the picking when the cornucopia of seasonal harvest is everywhere. Autumn is really here! So, don a chunky cable or fair aisle sweater, and spend a golden afternoon outside. Gather apples and back to school supplies to stir up an almost inexplicable joy inside. Feel the sweater weather.

In this fall season allow a lighter heart to leave the chaos behind, and gather. Make some new memories.

Barefoot in cozy socks and writing,

Kim

You might also enjoy:

Fall Bucket List

or

Autumn’s Gifts

or

Autumn is here, a new season in our ordinary, but precious lives.

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sweater weather