“That old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air … Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year's mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.”   – Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose

I began to put out the autumn decor a bit prematurely, when we cleaned the storage room after the fire evacuation.  It was still in the 90's then.  It was a few weeks before that I snapped this photo of the baby acorns.  Then, very suddenly, last weekend, it became fall.  Autumn, when it came, descended very definitely and without hesitation. It is now chilly, cold actually.  We are scrambling to find our sweaters and socks after a summer in sandals.  

It is sort of wonderful, this new season.  A time of gathering – new titles to explore, (see above) new texts begun, new seasonal recipes, the promise of Christmas at the end of this glorious indulgent semester.  My favorite time of all is autumn.  So full of promise.  Perhaps because my life has long revolved around the academic year, September is our new year.

Here is where we start fresh.