Fall is my favorite time of year, y’all!  I love the clear blue skies, the rustling of leaves, and all of the smells associated with the season—cinnamon, pumpkin pie, maple syrup, wood smoke, and baked cookies.  And I assume that for a lot of people, Spring is their time of rejuvenation.  But for me, Fall is the time to renew my energy from the long, hot days of summer.  I enjoy spending time outdoors and breathing in the cool, crisp air.  That is, as long as the cool, crisp air does not involve grass, trees, or farms. 

So, for my Thursday Thirteen, I’m listing thirteen things that I love about the Fall season. 

1. Candy corn.  And it can’t be that crappy harvest mix.  And I have to eat the white top first, and then the orange middle, and then the yellow end—in that order only.  No big handfuls, just One. At. A. Time.  I’m very particular about my candy corn.  Don’t argue with me.  And don’t ask me for any of them. 

2. Toasted marshmallows.  I love roasting marshmallows over a fire, but they have to be really gooey in the middle and really dark and crunchy on the outside.  I’m very particular about my toasted marshmallows.  Don’t argue with me.  And don’t ask me for any of them.  Do you detect a pattern here? 

3. Fire.  Not wildfires or anything, y’all.  I’m talking fires in a wood-burning fireplace, or the burning of leaves, or the burning of tires at the rubber plant down the street.  Mmm-mmm good!  Actually, remember when GR was building our patio, and I was having concerns about the aesthetics of it all?  Well, look at it now, and notice the arrow pointing to the large green object (not Gus): 

It’s our chiminea, y’all!  It’s beautiful and fun, and we’ve already had a couple of fires in it.  I cannot wait to toast marshmallows!  I’m just WAITING for some friends to come over.  Toasting marshmallows by myself is not fun.  Even though I don’t like to share them. 

4. Pumpkins.  There’s something about pumpkins that brings out the kid in me.  From the time that I was just a young, sweet girl, I was the official pumpkin carver in our family.  And mainly because no one else gave a crap about getting the gooey pumpkin guts all over their hands and arms.  I loved creating a face on a pumpkin—I brought it to life, gave it a name, talked to it.  We became friends.  However, somewhere along the way, I developed the same crap attitude about getting the gooey pumpkin guts on me.  I have a fake pumpkin now with a perfect sinister grin, that I plug into an outlet.  He doesn’t talk much.  Which is fine, because I no longer want to be friends with a pumpkin. Unless of course… 

5. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  How can you possibly get through a Fall without watching this great classic?  And in the prolific words of Linus, “There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin.”  Those also happen to be the rules for my blog. 

6. Halloween.  My most favorite non-holiday!  In fact, GR and I are having a big Halloween shindig over at our house this year (note to self—must plan party).  And at our party, costumes are required.  This year, GR will be the Swedish Chef (bork! bork! bork!), and I will be Miss Piggy.  As in, oink, oink, oink, I love candy corn. 

7. Apples.  I love Fall apples! Arkansas Blacks are the shizbomb—very tart and crunchy.  Later this month, GR and I have a field trip planned with Phoo and Big H to pick apples, but we’re having a hard time finding a place in North Georgia that will allow us to actually pick the apples off the tree instead of buying them from a roadside stand.  And goodness knows it would be much easier to buy them already picked.  But we want to WORK for our apples, damn it!  Just let us pick the freaking apples already!  Gah. 

8. Hot spiced apple cider.  Hot, spicy, and delicious!  The same way that I like my men GR.  And if you can’t find the real thing, I found the greatest mix ever at the Biltmore House last year.  It’s called Biltmore Estate Wassail Spice Blend, and you can mix it in apple juice, tea, or red wine.  It’s divine in hot apple juice.  I haven’t tried it in red wine yet, primarily because I would drink the entire bottle or two in one sitting.   

 9. Mums.  I love my mum.  But let’s not talk about my mum, let’s talk about mums of the floral variety.  I love how their colors coincide with the Fall season…or maybe that’s the other way around.  Nevertheless, they are beautiful flowers, and I must remember to buy some for my front doorstep.  We saw tons of them at Callaway Gardens last weekend, but their colors weren’t as vibrant as the ones shown in this picture: 

 10. Sweaters.  Oh, how I love a warm, fuzzy sweater in the Fall.  Actually, I just bought three new ones at TJMaxx yesterday while on my lunch hour.  And for some reason, all three of them are various shades of gray/green.  I think that my red hair color dictated my purchase.  I’m not sure how I will feel about the sweaters in two weeks when I go completely BROWN. 

 11. Full moons.  No, not that kind.  The moon is beautiful in the Fall.  I love that it looks so large and close to the earth and that it completely illuminates the sky.  But of course, this kind of full moon is pretty interesting, too… 

12. Fall television.  Thank the heavens that Fall programming is here!  However, I have to admit that I enjoyed the break from the boob tube this Summer.  Did I hear someone ask, “What are Lulu’s favorite shows?”  Oh, I think that I did.  So, as embarrassing as a few of them are for me to fess up to, let me list them:  Dancing With the Stars, The Bachelor, Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, Survivor, and Tori and Dean: Inn Love (I KNOW!).  Watching reality TV is one of my shortcomings.  

 13. Fall leaves.  I’m afraid that the leaves will not be vibrant and colorful here in Georgia this year.  The drought has really put a damper on a lot of things.  So, I will only dream, and leave you with a poem: 

“Come, little leaves,” said the wind one day,
“Come o’er the meadows with me and play:
Put on your dresses of red and gold -
For summer is gone and the days grow cold.” 

Happy Fall, y’all! 

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