good things about early fall

As much as I regret the end of summer, there are some absolutely splendid things about this time of year:

• the nip and the tang and the slant - the exciting bit of cool I feel in the morning and evening, the smell of things beginning to fall off of trees and bushes and rot (just a little) and the difference in the daylight (warmer, richer and bit nostalgic)
• things to do - shows, classes, projects, all beginning anew
• coziness - someone has found the afghan and put it back on the couch so when I read a book or watch a show I can cuddle up, and I bought new slippers for around the house
• harvest cooking - every local food you can think of is ripe, gorgeous and inexpensive, and it's more fun to cook when it's cooler out, and people are coming home for supper
• the sound of rain on the roof at night, or cars swishing past on the road outside
• dahlias standing up to even the most torrential rain, then glistening defiantly in the light spilling from the building when the rain stops
• going back to church after playing hookey for a good part of the summer
• local, new crop apples (specifically local, new crop ambrosia apples)
• dark outside when I rise, and when I go to bed
• the children in the neighbourhood suddenly looking bigger, older, more formed
• our own children turning the page to their next chapters - September is more like new year than January is for them
• lowering the patio furniture off the deck with a rope (haven't done that yet, but it's always fun!)
• movies - I don't go to the movies much in the summer, but in the fall I return to this delicious escape
  
• knowing we are headed to the longest night of the year - my favourite!
  

question - what do you like about this time of year?

mompoet - enjoying change