Falling for Fall

All the circulars in the Sunday paper are telling me it's time for fall to be here. I stare at all the pictures of plastic autumn leaves and papier-mache pumpkins and long for branches of real autumn leaves to decorate my house and real pumpkins to put on my front steps. I'm dreaming about cool weather days and the first sweaters of the season, snuggly blankets and long walks down Broad Street in jackets. I want to tear out the dying flowers of summer and plant the cheerful pansies of the cold weather season. In the kitchen, I'm already thinking about the first potato soup and fiery chili to put up in the freezer for winter days to come. 

Come the end of winter, I know I'll be going through the same thing, only it will be dreaming of shorts and bikinis and beach weather. It's the change in seasons that I truly love, the little feeling of anticipation that you get in your belly, knowing that it's right around the corner. I can almost taste the fresh, crisp air. Soon, very soon, it will be all apple pies and piles of leaves and camel coats with bright red gloves. And I'm so ready.