After the Fall..

Each moment of the year has its own beauty.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

There seem to be an abundance of people who simply love fall and everything about it. Especially the ceremonial breaking out of sweaters and boots and everything pumpkin spice. I have never been one of those people no matter how I’ve tried. The cooler temps and changing light is a transition that has always been difficult for me to embrace.  I have a garden-crazed, outdoor loving brother who starts to observe with enthusiasm the coming of fall around about mid-July, and it leaves me stumped for how we even share the same DNA.  Give me the sweet scented, bird-singing mornings and the slow moon rising evenings of May and June and that is where you’ll find my most satisfied smile.

Between the shorter days and the rampant ragweed, my energy is low and I find all I really long for is my book and blanket and a plate of cookies, closely resembling something like this:

(courtesy of I Like Me by Nancy Carlson)

Thankfully, there is no denying that western Pennsylvania puts on a beautiful show of autumn:

But the reality of this scene is that it brought on a sneeze that just about blew down the barn behind me.

I consider myself very fortunate that my fall was punctuated with some beautiful trips to Texas.  The first was for a wedding in Dallas for the son of some of our closest friends.  Get a load of this jaw-dropping venue:

I was wowed by the beautiful outdoor ceremony for the sweet and exquisite couple.  And then I saw the inside:

Talk about being gobsmacked:

And how about this sweet setup?

I’ve never seen such an enchanting table and could hardly take my eyes off it.  It was my rendition of Honeydukes. I of course  couldn’t eat anything on there so I dared not get too close for fear of salivating all over it. But I basked in the aroma for as long as I could then got wind of a coffee bar where you got to choose a vintage mug to take home with you.  Talk about magical..

As I floated off of that weekend, I had Fischer Fest, A Company of Friends to look forward to.  We met up with the same friends we were with in Dallas and spent the weekend at a tiny dance hall turned venue listening to music.

This old hippie had no idea I was using his shirt as a photo for my tiny gluten free blog but I reckon he wouldn’t care, because that’s just the relaxed nature of Fischer Fest:

And this little cowboy in training set his match box car play to the two-step of a banjo from inside the hall:

So even though I’m not fall’s biggest fan, it always does come with its own beauty.  As we now transition into winter and we’ve had our first hard frost, I can stop sneezing and start dreaming of a white Christmas.  Oh and that plate of cookies I mentioned earlier?  These have been keeping me happy:

I highly recommend.