"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." -Albert Camus

Jen from I Believe In Love posted an exciting picture of the first signs of fall (Yes, it's exciting. Say woot gosh-dangit.) And asked "What season do you most look forward to and why?"

Oh, just glorious Autumn. Fall. Autumnus (in Latin.) I told her it used to be summer. When I was younger that meant I was out of school and my small town would become crowded with extended family and friends. It meant the 4th of July parade, bbq's, and firework. And the possibility of a sweet, short, summer romance.


Now that I'm older, have kids, and am married to the love of my life (and am living in a city where it's 10 degrees warmer during the summer than said hometown) I find myself in love with Autumn. 
I love that the trees look like they're on fire, but the weather is tame and cool. I love that there are pumpkins at EVERY store giving me the excuse to make pumpkin chocolate chip bread and cookies and pumpkin pie and baked stew in a pumpkin.
I love that I can decorate with cozier, more neutral colors, and even get ready for Halloween. 
And in a few weeks (hopefully) I'll be able to pull on my comfy boots, and wrap up in my favorite scarves.
I know it won't be official until September 23rd, but we're close enough, right?

These are just pictures of the view from my apartment balcony. There are many trees out back and when they're changing color and the sun is setting, seriously, it's amazing. I'll try to catch a picture in a few weeks so I can show you. I'm really looking forward to getting a real house with a yard and a fence and not being able to hear my neighbors shower.

But I'm REALLY going to miss the view. 

At Fish Lake (I mentioned it in a previous post) there is a group of trees that change before any of the others. This group is pretty cool in that it is in the shape of a heart. So while everything is still green, for a week or so, there will be a lovely red heart on the mountain. My grandma worked there when she was a young girl. It's where she met my grandpa. She said that people used to trim and groom the trees, but they were told they couldn't anymore. It had to occur naturally. The red heart shows up anyway.