What a beautiful day!

Julianne just called from Logan and told me that it was all foggy and cold there. I looked out my window where the sun is drenching the Hurricane hill...with a background of deep blue autumn skies and thanked my lucky stars. It's a beautiful day here. The trees are in various stages of undress--a few brazen hussies standing stark naked, but most still clinging on to their leaves--golden, red, green--well, you get the picture. It's cool--around 60 degrees right now, according to the Fay (Santa Fe).

Every year I say, "Oh, this is the prettiest autumn ever." And every year, I mean it! It's official. Autumn is my favorite season.

Here's why I love it:

• The weather: It's FINALLY cooling down. That may be one of my biggest compliments to autumn! Oh, how I love having windows open to outside air--cool breezes blowing the curtains in the bedroom, wind chimes shivering with delight.
  
• The skies get deeper hues--the sunsrises and sunsets are magnificent. Clouds put on special shows with the occasional rain storm.
  
• The leaves, oh, the leaves! I LOVE the changing colors of the leaves. I love them drifting down to carpet lawns. I think people get way too paranoid about raking them up. Heavenly Father made so many varieties of trees with so many shapes of leaves. I think I must have helped design a few!
• The food--apples from New Harmony are at their peak, especially the Ida Reds. Those tart, tangy apples just make my mouth water, and I need to make apple crisp. My mind turns to hot chocolate in front of a wee fire, to pumpkin cookies and hot, spiced cider, even to home-made bread fresh from the oven, with a liberal slathering of butter melting on a slice. Oh, YUM! And I didn't even mention the PIES!
  
• It has so many holidays to recommend it: Halloween fun, Thanksgiving delight, with Christmas hard on their heels. The whole season is filled with family warmth and love. Ah....
• It means winter follows. Winter means no lawns for DarDar to worry about, no garden to water, weed, harvest, no horrendous southern Utah heat that makes me CRAZY. Winter really is hibernation time...you want to go to bed earlier because of the long nights...it's RESTFUL! As a kid I hated it, but I love it now! I would a thousand times rather be cold than hot!

Well, enough. You get the idea. I will love autumn clear until...spring. It must be the transitional seasons that suck me in.

NEWS:
Kendall came over yesterday afternoon and cleaned the carpets in the front room. It was lovely coming home to stacked up furniture, fans going, and clean carpet. Yay. Darwin worked his heinie (sp?) off, too...washing the cobweb infested window on the west wall in the front room. Since he brought home the power sprayer for the outside and got rid of the cobwebs, he has been fretting about the windows. Let him fret, I say...because I LOVE him washing them. That window positively sparkles...and I DID stay awhile!

Janna pitched our old Wal Mart Christmas tree and bought a better one at Costco. She has been itching to put it up. I've never heard of such a thing...putting a tree up before Thanksgiving!!! Oh, la! But since the carpet was clean, Kendall couldn't resist getting it out of the box and setting it up. It took a LONG time, since he is so talented at fixing each branch just so. The tree looks good...covered with lights. I'm sure I'll be heartily sick of it by Christmas--but I have a delightful, slightly wicked feeling having it up so early. Who knows when it will actually get decorated. Our goal is to do it before Thanksgiving---and have the Christmas lights all up, too. Huzzah!

I have been working long hours at school, doing SEOP conferences. It's my part-time job, for which I will get paid $17 or so an hour. I am going to use some of the money to do something about my dang hair. I have too many gray roots to continue coloring it this dark. Maybe I'll go blond again!

Oh, how I love Facebook...and NOT just for Word Twist, kids! I love seeing your tidbits that you post, and mostly, the photos. I miss my grandkids like crazy. Maybe moving to Colorado wouldn't be such a bad thing. We wouldn't be that much further from Springville...

Well, I must away. Ta ta for now!

•