#11: play…play a lot.

It’s fall…

…in case you missed that a midst all the twenty-something talk.

Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. Against my previous inclinations, I have grown to love the cold that fall brings in. Summer has taken a back seat in my list of favorite seasons.  I used to crave the days of shorts, tank tops, and flip flops, trips to the beach, toes in the sand…but not so much anymore.

Don’t get me wrong…I thoroughly enjoy it, but the coziness of Fall and Winter appeal to my senses much more than Summer does.

Maybe it’s the warm, spicy scents, or the crackle of a fire place, or the immense amount of baking that is called for, maybe it’s the need to cuddle up under a blanket, or the crunch of the leaves, maybe it’s the colors that match my hair so splendidly, or maybe it’s simply the holidays that do it to me…the promise of long gatherings, around yummy food, with the people I love the most…or then again…I am a big time sweat-er. Maybe I just completely despise the months where I know the temperatures are going to encroach and pass 100 degrees, while the I-can’t-breath-it’s-so-muggy-&-humid-index shoots through the roof and the sweat pours. 

I blossom in Fall. Just call me a Mum.

Being a Fall-blossomer I tend to get really busy around this time of year. The chill in the air begs me to wrap my scarf around my neck and go play…and I can’t resist.

There are pumpkins to pick and carve. There are corn mazes to get lost in. Apple cider to sip. Lots of apples to pick. There are hay rides to be taken and fairs to go to. Vineyards to visit. Wine tastings to enjoy. Mountains that call to me and will me to come frolic (yes, frolic, because what else would you do in leaves of the most brilliant golds, ambers, reds, and oranges?) and enjoy.

So I flip my scarf around my neck, pull on my boots…and away I go.

Because even though I am at the point where the question of “growing up” hangs in the air. And yes, there is most likely a “big” decision of some sort hanging in the air.

I need to figure life out and be a big kid, but here’s the thing…I never want to get too big.

There are moments…days…when I just need to be silly.

Play in the rain, make masks out of leaves, dance like a fool, chase after a 3-year-old like I really am “going to get her.”

Grow up…but don’t grow up too much that you stop playing…

#11: Play…play a lot.