September!! I absolutely love fall – I wait every year patiently for my favorite season to roll around, and while I know the beginning of September is not quite fall yet technically, don’t we all associate it with fall? I think it is the whole back to school aspect of the month – kids go back in the fall, therefore, it is fall. While the weather is still sunny and warm there is now a breeze that is blowing through, crisp and cool that is making me long for fall to finally and totally arrive. Bonfires and apple picking await this month, there is cider to be drunk, flannels and boots and sweaters will be pulled out soon, and cozy meals are soon to be made. We have already started with a few of these, with a bonfire at my brother’s over Labor Day weekend, chili mac and cornbread served up at it’s glowing warmth and flames. The weather was perfect, the kids had a blast, and the adults just enjoyed the moment. One of those nights. The kids did not go to sleep in the tent as we had hoped, but it was ok – we were saying goodbye to summer and they were a part of that.

I am still reminded that it is more of a late summer right now, when I head outside. Some of my flowers are still blooming away, bees are hurriedly gathering all the pollen they can, but signs of fall are out there too. Leaves fallen into the garden, squirrels eating the apples from our tree, our family eating the apples too. It’s time to gather up the seeds for next year, harvest what we can. I am outside gathering and collecting, acorns and marigold seeds, lemon basil to make into salt, black walnuts for pesto, apples for pie and just eating. My sister-in-law and I are planning on a canning day at my uncles, while my mom watches our kiddos. It is a time to gather the bounty of nature and gather together as well.

We have some fun things planned for this month, from family art projects to hikes, field trips, and milestone birthday parties. Wyatt has started school again, and while he is busy learning I hope to do some home projects and personal art projects and write here more too. I always feel more creative and energized this time of year – it is my time, and I love it. My brother and I took our kids for ice cream together today, and he was wearing a flannel, and eating maple walnut ice cream, an echo of the change of season, right there in front of me. It was a day of small wonders and sights anyway, from a cuddly cat sleeping in a chair to the monarch caterpillar I watched shed into its chrysalis form, to the grasshoppers hopping about my yard, and finally to the magical white pumpkins that seem to have planted themselves in my front garden.

I am so ready for fall, so excited for this season. How about you? Is there a season or time of year that really resonates in your soul?