Then Breaks the Mourning

Today is the first official day of the 2006 mourning period. For those of you not living in the desert, that means it's the first day of fall. Autumn is my favorite season: the chilly air that slaps you awake, the crunchy leaves that talk to you, the smell of harvest that promises seasonal goodies are coming soon. I have looked forward to this change of scenery since I was little.

Now I live in an area of the country that experiences only two seasons: hot summer and not-so-hot summer.

Here, the patchy grass that didn't grow until the monsoon season started last month is still yellowish green. The leaves on the ground are also dull green, too lazy to even attempt what autumn dictates. Granted the mercury registers 20 degrees cooler than a month and a half ago, and the sun is setting earlier in the evening. But we'll still wear shorts through Thanksgiving--when the dull-green leaves are still on the trees and the temps are in the 70s. The kids were excited about fall and rushed to the window this morning, only to look out and see nothing different. (We haven't discussed how seasons work yet.) For this to upset me is one thing; to have it depress my children is another.

Hence we are creating our own autumn. We keep our central air set at 69 so we can wrap up in blankets and drink hot cocoa or cider. Last Wednesday I took homemade pumpkin pie and apple cake to share with my Bible study. They all laughed when I announced I was making my own fall since it refused to come to me. And after the kids' sad day of searching for organic orange, red, and yellow foliage, they colored pictures of scarecrows and pumpkins. We also booked a trip to an out-of-state pumpkin patch/corn maze. And a few years ago, my mother-in-law sent us a package of fabric fall-colored leaves which Sydney & I used to decorate our bookshelves. Syd wanted it to really look like fall inside, so following her direction, we alternated both size and color. ("We have to make a pattern!" she insisted, since, of course, nature always follows a pattern.)

Then we made buckeye candy--not that the kids know what buckeyes are. But who cares? Chocolate and peanut butter...yummy fun! Bryan (2) kept dipping his peanut butter ball in the chocolate after licking off the previous layer. Fortunately I had the foresight to let him dip last. Bryce (4) and Sydney (7-1/2) did excellent jobs making their own. Brady (10 mos), however, was quite upset that he couldn't enjoy the day's edible project. Sorry, buddy. We'll share some at Christmas!

So if you're mourning the loss of summer, remember us transplanted Midwesterners. Six autumns without the benefits haven't diminished our pain.