Thursday, September 8, 2011

Plastic Autumn

I am jealous. I am sad. I am homesick for Little Rock.

I get on Facebook every morning, and all sorts of friends all over the country are posting about how excited they are to have fall weather.

I love fall. It has always been my favorite season. In past years I wrote special posts about how much I love fall. Here's one of my fall posts from 2008.

I love the cool weather, the crunch of the leaves, the fall scent in the air, the fun decorations, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and looking forward to Christmas. I love taking photos of my kids surrounded by the rich colors of fall. And now I live in Florida. Instead of crunchy leaves, I have blooming hibiscus in my front yard. Beautiful yes, but a poor substitute for my favorite maple tree on Green Mountain Road in Little Rock. While my northern friends are cozy in their new jeans and sweaters, my kids are wearing their tired, worn-out shorts and t-shirts to school for a few more months. I am hoping we can make Snapper's shirts hold out until November. She is growing, and she has worn most of her clothes to death. She only has six shirts that are in decent enough condition to wear out of the house. While stew and soup recipes are beginning to pop on on many friends' blogs, I am still cycling through salad recipes, alternated with evenings of grilling out to keep the house cool. We have no migratory birds passing through. Oh no, we are beginning to have our annual fall invasion of Love Bugs. Gross. In Little Rock, I used to love decorating my house with fresh fall leaves, bringing a splash of color and the woodsy scent of fall inside. Now I have to raid Hobby Lobby to create a plastic autumn in my home. I have yet to find a candle that can recreate that beloved scent. Crank up the air conditioner and cook some beef stew and pumpkin bread. As long as I don't have to go outside, I can create the illusion of fall. I guess it is better labeled as a delusion. Boring Plastic Autumn.

I'm sure that when I am romping on the beach in January, my jealousy will have faded. But for now, *sigh.*

2 comments:

Tammy said...

Poor Em, I love you! I feel for ya too - it's 96 degrees here today, and slated to be 101 tomorrow. Boo to us :( Fall is my favorite too!

Kit said...

Oh you sound so sad and I want to bottle up our cool mornings and drifting leaves and send them to you! It is a hard transition for sure but knowing you, you will adjust and STILL have your Autumn even in sunny Florida. :) Kit