Just Fallin' Around

I'm trying to be as festive and as excited about autumn as I can be, but it's hard when it's 80 degrees out and sunny all the time! Not that I mind the weather, I just wish it would...I don't know, smell more like fall, or be more windy than normal, or maybe have more leaves laying around. I know it's coming but, I just get impatient sometimes...all the time.
Anyway in an attempt to bolster my excitement I decided to do a little fall decorating in my office at work. It's nothing extreme, but it was fun, and I'm already feeling the urge to plan my Leif Ericksen Day dinner. Happy fall!!!
My pumpkins from left to right are named: Horatio, Alexander Pumpkinseed III, and Kyle.

Springtime is Here!

A few shots from our beautiful Sunday morning hike up Saint Joseph's Hill.

A Perfect Fall Day!

Last weekend my Sweetie and I went to San Martin to visit a farm that had a pumpkin patch, a real life corn maze, pumpkin competition, and a bunch of other stuff. It was SO fun! Here are a couple photos from our awesome Autumn adventure;)

Glass Pumpkin Patch

I went to the glass pumpkin patch sale last weekend at the high school. I try to go every year despite the fact that I can't afford to buy anything there, not even the smallest little one. They are beautiful but so expensive. And then where on earth would I store them when it wasn't Autumn? Still I love to go and look, and take pictures of all the ones I would have bought if I were rich, and lived in a giant house with lots of closets. If glass pumpkins don't get you in the mood for fall, I don't know what will. Here are a few photos of some of the prettier ones to inspire you!

October Nights

I have had a great day! It's been busy, but great. I started out a Panera, where I consumed a gallon of coffee and planned out my day. I followed that by nailing down some not-so-far-off Xmas plans. After that I went shopping! Not for clothes, (although I did take two vests up to the checkout, but I put them both back at the last minute), but for items that I decided I wanted more. Like what? Flowers for my patio, a couple of pumpkins, some jelly sticky things to put on my kitchen windows...you know, the important stuff;)
Then I came home and cleaned, I mean really CLEANED my patio. Yep! All the scary mouse nests in the outdoor storage closet that have been haunting my dreams, the cob webs, the leaves the rolly-polly bug comunes that have established themselves under all my plants...all cleaned. NOTE no rolly-polly bugs were killed in the making of my habitable patio.
Then I went to yoga. It was awesome. I got all stretched out and relaxed. I even went and sat in the hot tub for a while after just for exra measure.
I was going to go to the local high school football game, but it started later than I thought. It's not a big deal though because the football field is only a quarter mile (as the crow flies) so so I can hear everything that is happening from home. BTW it's 3rd and 10.
And the weather is finally cooperating! It's a beautiful Autumn night. Not too cold, but a little chilly. And there is that ...something on the wind that whispers fall. The drums from the high school band, and the breeze , absent the smell of scorched flora and asphalt, silently screaming a change. A change of season, a change of...rhythm. I am so cool with that.
There is a balance that must always be struck between what you are waiting for and where you are. I think that's something I couldn't possibly inderstand when I was younger, but I do now. I've grown I guess. Or more accurately I've grown up. I've finally discovered that there is a whole life to be lived and appreciated while waiting for something else to happen. And I embrace it. I am looking so forward to Thanskstoberfestoween, and Leif Erickson Day, and Thanksgiving and Christmas, and Christmas 2! But I am also enjoying right now. I'm enjoying my (mostly) clean house, and super clean patio. I'm enjoying the air outside, the smell of things, the sound of the breeze through the trees,  and the comfoting hum of traffic on the highway.
I try not to comment too often on religious things, but I can't close this without saying this. At least in my experience, religion has focused on a destination. The only thing that really mattered is where you end up "in the end".
I fundamentally disagree with that. I  think the greatest mistake a person can make is to think that wherever they are, right now, is less valuable than somewhere they may or not be in the future. My personal opinion is that if you actually take a minute to think about yourself, and your life, and the lives of the people you love, that you will find that there is NOTHING that could be grater or more beautiful or fufilling than what is right in front of you, right now. The idea of heaven is a moot point for me at this juncture in my life. Everything I'd really want to have in heaven I've got right here.
And it's a beautiful world.

Octoberfest

It's that time of year. The time when leaves start changing color and dusk comes sooner. It's a time when you start planning your Lief Ericksson/Octoberfest parties and deciding what or who you are going to be for Halloween. It's a time of cool grey days and everything pumpkin. Or so it should be.
October is starting out...warm for those of us who live in California. According to the Weather Channel it reached 95 degrees here at precisely 3:05 this afternoon. Lame. It's supposed to be fall now. Not summer! It's supposed to be brisk and breezy, and leaves are supposed to be...well, falling. What's the deal? Apparently nature has no accountability to my seasonal schedule.
All I have to say is I am glad I took advantage of the patches of Autumn I glimpsed while back home in Michigan. I'll admit the colors weren't at their peak, but I'm not one to complain about that kind of thing. When it comes to vacations, I am more of a "the glass is half full" kind of gal. So even though it might not have been apparent to the casual observer I still managed to find some fall:)

No matter what kind of weather you are having, I hope you all have a wonderful October!