Cool Autumn

by Suzanne

Warning, I'm just letting my mind and fingers wander over some cool stuff about my favorite season today.

Yesterday morning I walked out of the hospital in the morning, the weather was beautiful and cool! After five months of greater than 90 degrees, AETHER, the primal god of shining blue sky was in his element and decided to give me a beautiful 55 degree morning to drive home in. I'd finished my fourth 12 hour night shift, feet dragging, eyes drooping, and I got to drive home with the windows down, the air conditioner off and the radio up LOUD!

Dark sunglasses, wind whipping through my hair, me singing slightly off key harmonies to ZZ Top...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah! The people in the cars next to me were just getting their days started. One man looked at me from the seat of his Mercedes SUV and smiled, (I think he had his window down and caught some off key singing;) Dressed in suits and business clothes, sipping their cups of over priced coffees and lattes, I felt so sorry for them. They had to spend this beautiful morning trapped inside, working.

Me?

Yeah, cruising down the road... Cool!!

And when I got home, Rocky-the-wonder-dog and I sat out on the back porch watching the birds and squirrels. Blue sky and crisp air, me drinking a cup of warm tea. Days like this make all those months of heat and air conditioning worth it! I love the contrast of the seasons, but mostly the relief from the oppressive sun and heat that cooler weather brings.

I adore autumn. In October or early November I usually travel to Ohio to see my family. Not just to see my parents, but to enjoy the cool weather, the color changes of the trees, the rainy drizzle days that invariably fill autumn in the Ohio valley. Alas, this year I am not going to get home. Work and life are keeping me home, but I can close my eyes and imagine I'm there.

After sleeping like the dead...(I did mention that we're having a massive baby-boom at my hospital and I'm working HARD each night, right?), I opened every window in the house and turned on the attic fan to suck out the stale air and pull in some glorious cool autumn air. mmmmmmmm

So, besides cool weather and colorful trees, you know what else is cool about autumn? Chili and baking! Yep, we spend all summer grilling. It keeps the heat in the house down and we have a great built-in gas grill, so why not? Actually, we grill all year round, but way more in the summer than the rest of the year. So, when the weather turns cooler I get the bug to bake. And make big pots of soup or chili.




Now, I make a mean pot of chili. I must, the girls at work beg me to bring in some every time I make it. My son-in-law snatches a bowl when he picks the grandbabies up on the day I babysit, and my dh and son gobble up bowls every day until the pot is empty. We're not purists in our chili eating, we add things like cheese, sour cream to it, and some even mash up buttered Ritz crackers. But we do love our chili. As for baking, Ginger snaps are always a must...as are apple pies and crisps, cakes...and oh yeah the last blackberry cobbler of the season!

Another thing that happens in autumn in our house is cleaning out the pantry and closets. Clothing gets donated to the local Good Will, while cans of food that are outdated or boxes of food that are past their expiration have to be tossed out. There is something just therapeutic about cleaning out the pantry and closet.

Another great thing about autumn is walking in the mornings. This lets my brain fix any problems in my MIP (Mess In Progress) or sparks new ideas for more stories. This is probably a trained reaction to autumn because of the beginning of school always coincides with it... a Pavlovian reaction which triggers the desire to create.

Soooooooooo...do you find Autumn cool? What is your favorite part? Do you have a favorite food to cook or bake this time of year? What songs do you like to sing to with the windows down?

***Check throughout the day for some of my favorite fall recipes!***