I am well aware that summer doesn’t officially end until September 21st.
As I write this, it is September 2nd, and while we still have some time until the 21st, I’m done with summer.
This summer was kind of a bust. A summer of unfulfilled promise if you’ll indulge me in being poetic for a moment. In so many ways, it just wasn’t what I had hoped for.
Don’t get me wrong. There were bright spots.
Taking my bell choir to England for our summer tour, at the end of June, was positively magical.
Our extended family beach week with the in-laws was amazing and such a wonderful time to reconnect.
Being home with the monkeys and Real Man is always good for the soul.
So, this isn’t a pity party post. It’s just a post saying that I’m good with the end of summer and anxious to move into the new season.
It doesn’t hurt that autumn is my favorite season.
And, while technically autumn is the beginning of the death of nature so that it can sleep in winter and be reborn in the spring (how’s that for waxing poetic?), to me, it’s always been about new beginnings.
Perhaps it’s the teacher in me that recognizes autumn as a time to start over, moving into a new school year with new students and new opportunities, but I’ve always embraced this season as my own.
Yesterday, Tiny and I headed to the beach for one last beach day of the summer.
We got out early, beat the traffic, and sat on the beach and did puzzles from some of my Dad’s old issues of Games World of Puzzles magazines that he passes along to me when he’s done the puzzles he wants to do. We played some paddle ball. We walked the shoreline collecting shells and rocks, and we waded out into the calm ocean and just breathed in those last moments of summer.
And when we got home last night, I took down my summer-themed decorations (of which there are few) and decked the house out for fall (with decorations aplenty).
I belong to a hygge group on Facebook, (feel free to Google hygge if you aren’t familiar…it’s me embracing my Danish roots and trying to create a cozy space in which to live all year round), and someone had asked about podcasts or YouTubers to watch to help you with that feeling of fall and cozy, and someone suggested the “Darling Desi” YouTube channel.
I’m not a YouTube watcher. I don’t really get it, which is a stupid thing to say. I’m all over social media. I watch and stream things constantly. YouTube has always, somehow, evaded my interest and grasp. But, while decorating, I opened up my computer and started watching some of her “anticipating fall” videos and let me tell you…I’m hooked.
But I want more autumn.
The leaves aren’t going to turn quite yet. The weather forecast for the coming week is in the 90’s here in Jersey. On Tuesday, people are going to be talking about vacations and wishing summer would return, and I’m going to smile and nod and be imagining jeans and sweaters and orange and brown and crunchy leaves under my feet.
The whole point of this is to say, I’d love some suggestions for how you embrace fall in your homes. And maybe you don’t. But maybe you know some books or some shows that give that fall vibe, and you could recommend them to me.
Darling Desi has recommended a ton of books, most of which I now have on hold at the library, and some shows that I’ve already watched, but will watch again.
If I can find “You’ve Got Mail” for free somewhere, I’ll be streaming that later. It’s one of my favorites (it’s about a bookshop…c’mon…and it gives incredible fall vibes). I already rewatch Gilmore Girls as I fall asleep at night, which has an autumn and cozy aesthetic in every single episode.
I’ve been starting my fall/spooky season reading, starting with “Slewfoot” that was recommended by my friend Tara and “Belladonna” another recommendation of hers.
Give me more. What should I be reading? What should I be watching that will let me immerse myself in a season that isn’t quite here yet, but is on the cusp of arriving in it’s darker colors, cooler air, and amazing scents.
For today, I’m going to drink my tea, eat a slice of the blueberry loaf I just made, and read a good, fall spooky story.
