There's a chill in the air~~~

And I love it.....autumn has always been my favorite season~and the season I missed the most when I moved to Florida at age 16. Sweaters, boots, cord trousers; the vibrant colors that surrounded us; raking the leaves into piles (and then jumping or falling backwards into them!) followed by the smell of neighbors burning them- these are all things I longed for those first 10 or so years of being a resident of the sunshine state.

It's only been the last 10 or so years that I've finally, really, truly, acclimated myself to Florida living. It took me that long to realize that Florida does have its own version of autumn.....you just have to wait longer and look harder. I looked and looked and finally, last week, I found the one tree whose leaves showed the wonder of the autumn color scheme......and I knew.....we'd soon wake up to cold mornings when coffee and bacon and biscuits taste...well, somehow, more heavenly then normal. I knew it was time to get that old Rubbermaid container out of the eave and bring out those sweaters, sweats, and yes, horribly old fashioned cords ( I live in the country where I don't see a soul outside of family for days on end...I can wear outdated fashions to my hearts content!).

I still sometimes long for the real autumns of Ohio and Indiana, but then I shiver and realize that after 30 years of living down here, I wouldn't be able to handle it. I am truly a Floridian now....content with the search for fall colored trees, the raining down of cypress and pecan leaves instead of multi colored beauties that beg to be raked and jumped in but are inevitably followed by ice and snow......I am glad that for most of the year, those sweaters that I love are sufficient to see me through the coldness of fall and winter......that even on the coldest of days, the sunshine state lives up to its name......

There's a chill in the air, I'm going to be wearing cords and a sweater today.....and I love it.