9. Getting back on a schedule after the joyous freedom of not teaching during the summer!! Going back to the classroom means accomplishing things in orderly fashion, it means interacting with peers, it means meeting the new bevy of freshman faces both excited and nervous to begin college. It also means 6 am alarm clocks, but at least at the beginning of the year it is light out when that jarring beeping begins.
8. Trying new ideas. Fall is a RESTART button. New ideas for teaching a certain class? Give them a whirl! Summers off allow you to reflect on what works and what could be better. Fall is the moment when those new ideas can finally bang up against all those freshman faces both excited and nervous to begin college.
7. Scarves. Seriously. They can make BLAH look like WOW! I have a few “summer” scarves, but they eventually make me sweat, and they eventually get yanked off and dumped in the car or in my purse. Great fall and winter scarves loop with colors that tell your mood and your expectations for the day. The infinity scarf? Pure genius.
6. A return to the kitchen. The heat of the summer can dampen your appetite, but shorter days and cooler temps mean sauces that sit and develop, dinners that linger on later as we discuss the day’s happenings. Time in the kitchen with family and friends is pure joy for me.
5. Red wine! I move almost entirely to white wines in the summer. Their lightness and brightness embodies longer days, stronger sun, and time for laughter with friends and family. Those sauces that simmer and build in depth in the Fall prefer a red wine with similar characteristics. Both bring me to warm memories of Grandma, the absolute finest cook in America. Cheers, Grandma! I wish I had spent more time with you in the kitchen, and that I had been old enough to share a glass of wine with you.
4. Autumn leaves and fallen leaves. The rustling sound in the wind tells you the season. Open your eyes for the resplendent colors, then close them for the audio feed. Happily, my husband likes to mow and mulch leaves, so I am left to enjoy their presence on the trees, then their rustling on the ground before he rounds them up and makes them into grass food.
3. The school bus. Teachers have the best of both worlds – we get to be professionals for 9 months, then stay at home parents for 3 months. Most of us truly love that yellow beast lumbering down the road in September. I have been known to dance back to the house after it departs. Witnessed by one cousin who still reminds me of it.
2. Boots. Just like scarves, I find they do NOT work for me in the summer. Fall temperatures allow the boots to come back out, with skinny pants tucked into the high ones, or flared legs pulled over the ankle boots. This winter I may actually attempt ankle boots with a skirt. Maybe. Probably not, but I will imagine it looks pretty darn cool.
1. The smell of wood burning. Nothing says “Autumn” more than the wafts of a fire pit or a fireplace burning wood. Gather round. Grab a glass of wine. Wear a comfortable sweatshirt that will inevitably need to be washed tomorrow because it smells of smoke. Love. Love. Love.
0