Arizona Fall

Fall is officially, calendarically (can I say that?) here, and things have indeed felt a little different. First of all, there is the temperature, which thankfully hasn’t risen above 110 degrees in the past month. Then of course there are the fall/Halloween/harvest decorations that remind us all to seek pumpkin flavors in all things. And then there is the fact that I feel compelled to buy every shirt I see in mustard yellow, an unexplainable phenomenon that only happens during the month of September. (And I usually get rid of them all by December, knowing as I do that it is not my most flattering color.) Fall is weird like that.

This year I went even further and bought some tokens of autumn for our home: decorative pillows for the front room, one pumpkin patch sign, and various pumpkins and fall leaves for a piano-top display. I’m pleased with it. It’s already motivated me to make applesauce and a batch of chili, even if we had to turn down the AC to eat the chili. And someday (after Thanksgiving, probably) the leaves will turn colors, the nights will actually be crisp, and I’ll wear a sweater in a final tribute to the season.

In other news, I am rediscovering my love of running. I don’t go a lot, but I find myself regularly thinking about/planning for my Saturday morning training run. (Training for what, you ask? No idea.) I’m suddenly drawn to Youtube videos on running tips, Pinterest boards of the best races, and I even watched the Disney movie ‘McFarland, USA’ (thanks, Dad, for the recommendation!) by myself in the middle of the night when Boyd didn’t want to sleep. I am not nor have I ever been a fast runner, but it's been the right kind of challenge for this season of life, as long as I use the bathroom twice before going. 😂 

Home life highlights:

-Boyd has started walking and has a PR of 6 consecutive steps

-Stanton has learned more about the inner workings of a 2004 Civic than he ever intended to in a 5(and counting)-day battle with seized bolts and leaky hoses

-Loxley and Bruce completed their first real hike with only one snack stop and only two (denied) requests to be carried

That’s all. Wishing you a happy fall filled with Costco pumpkin pies and at least one sale on honeycrisp apples.

-Kiera