It is an October in my Soul: A Tragical Fall Tale
Is Fall your favorite time of year? I’m guessing if you chose to read this blog then yes, you treasure and savor the change in light and the color of the trees & look as giddily forward to October 1st as I do.
For the last 8 years fall brought me charming semesters with my fellow English majors. Fall meant long evenings sipping lattes on the third floor of the library pouring over books on Shakespeare, Milton & Marlowe. Fall meant paradise for me. If you know an English major you won’t be surprised to learn that they are some of the most sentimental people you will ever meet. There is something in our natures & love for books that inevitably brings about a hopeless sense of romance when we think about fall semesters & rainy campuses.
This is my first fall without school. I finished my master’s degree last autumn, it was crazy, wonderful, the most stressful thing I’ve ever done and I miss it desperately. I feel as though a piece of myself is missing, that a beautiful part of my life is over.
I made myself cry just writing that – a true sign of sentimentality & english major funk? I think so.
Even though school has not ushered me into fall the way it has for almost the last decade, I have still felt the simple joys of buying my first (6) pumpkins, sipping my first spiced latte & seeing the charming decorations at Disneyland at twilight.
I’m realizing there are lots of things I dearly love about Fall & that I don’t need a library, tons of homework, or puddly-campus to savor it.
Here are just a few of my favorite fall treats:
Fall is my favorite season for many reasons so here is a list of all my favorite little Fall things!
– Pumpkin Spice Lattes – I squealed in delight with my first sip.
– Come to think of it, there is pumpkin-flavored everything this time of year. that’s great.
– Disneyland’s Halloween transformation. The streets are stacked with pumpkins & the glowing windows are filled with spooky displays. The Haunted Mansion gets a makeover and you can smell the gingerbread house in the grand ballroom that is specially redesigned every year for the ride. Big Thunder Ranch is perfect with the pumpkin-carvers and the festive little cottage. It’s Disney at it’s best.
– Trader Joe’s pumpkins! They’re cheap & beautiful – a perfect combo.
– The time of year when you watch “You’ve Got Mail” – one of my absolute FAVORITE movies. If you don’t know what “bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils” are then get on Netflix NOW. You have missed out for far too long.
– This painting.
Peter Ellenshaw, “Winnie the Pooh Autumn Leaves”
– I light candles in the newly darker evenings & that always makes me feel cozy & at home
– I also like to re-read some of the Harry Potter books this time of year, Harry & Halloween just go together & those books never get old.
– Most of all, I love fall because it means the craziness of summer is over, the frantic traveling between here & there is over and I can finally just be home. it’s simple but it is one of my chief joys.
To quote John Milton (author of Paradise Lost & a serious genius)
“The mind can make a heaven out of hell or a hell out of heaven” (Book 1, l. 253-55)
Maybe my heaven of school would have been your personal hell, or perhaps fall is your least favorite season because glorious summer is over. The point is that change comes to everything, endings come and traditions disappear. But our minds can see good even in semester-less falls, new heavens can be lurking where we never could have imagined them before.
(an actual photo from last semester in the library with my semester-long companions)
Is this fall different for you in some way?
What are some of your favorite fall treats?
39 Comments
This is some great information.
Thanks Tom,
Glad you could glean some info from this!
I love all of the halloween decorations in the stores and candy corn!! I’m on my second bag, its so bad but soooo good! I’m excited to dress my new baby brother up for his first halloween this year!
Shasta!
I’m so glad I’m not the only one already relishing the delights of the season! You’ll have to give m a final tally of how many candy corn bags you make it through!
Also, how fun to dress up your little brother! Every year it’s the little kid costumes at Old Navy or Target that bring me the most joy – have tons of fun with that!
Molly,
What a great blog! Thank you for sharing a little piece of yourself with us. I actually know what you mean about school being associated with the season of fall. i’m sure this part of your life(without school) will be full of experiences and excitement. I know how you must miss school, getting your Master’s is a huge commitment to school and it is awesome that you succeeded and pushed thru. The first fall I had without school felt odd, waking up getting ready for work and going to my job instead of my usual routine when I was in school. It’s a completely new way you will experience the season of fall. Thank you so much for reminding us the joys of fall.
Shayna,
Thank you so much for reading & sharing your own experience with this change. It is a new way of experiencing the season and I’ve been pleasantly surprised so far that I’ve been able to savor it so fully even without my usual traditions.
I’m looking forward to new ways or perhaps just deeper ways of treasuring this season and making the most of it.
Thank you for your comment!
Molly,
I absolutely LOVE that you LOVE the Fall, and I LOVE that you have a Masters Degree (ugh!) and that you miss school!! You are an amazing young woman!!
Love you Kiddo!!
Kari
Kari!
I LOVE that YOU love fall, too! I hear it’s already a harvest paradise in your home & I so love knowing souls that are as kindred to mine as yours.
Thank you for your kindness & love – love you back!
Molls
You and I move in the same direction when it comes to Fall! I’m there with you every step of the way. For me, however, the days of studying in the library and long nights awake writing papers have long since left me. But regardless of the time frame, we are all creatures of our own design. Our tastes can be as varied as our age, but the seasons of life are exactly that . . seasons. We learn more each year as we take off old traditions and move forward with new and exciting opportunities. Just look at where you are now? Simply wonderful to have you here among us. Who would have thought! Enjoy this season . . pumpkin latte and all.
I love you dearly,
AP
Aunt Pat,
I find that I spend a lot of time throughout the year longing for this season but I’m quite certain that without the others to compare it to I wouldn’t treasure it the way I do. Your reference to the seasons of life prompted that thought as we can only move through life and appreciate the changes of each stage as we complete the one before. It makes me want to cherish even the bleakness of March when it comes as each day that passes brings me closer to October but also sharpens my joy. I’m going to learn to love March as well, determined to do it this next year!
Thank you for all you say & for your dear heart!