Missing fall

For the past three years (give or take a few weeks), I have lived in Charleston, SC.  Charleston is a gorgeous coast city that's full of palm trees and stays about 100 degrees for six months of the year.  I loved it.  It never really got cold until late November/early December.  It would stay that way until February/March and I was back in my flip flops by my birthday in April.  Basically, there weren't seasons. It was either summer or a sorry excuse for winter.  Earlier this year, it snowed for the first time in over 20 years.  And by saying it snowed, I mean it snowed maybe an inch, it suck on the ground for one night, and it made the roads look like it rained.  It didn't even freeze.  However, you would have thought it snowed 70 inches and Charleston was going to be cut off from the outside world from the way people reacted.  It was kind of like Tennessee whenever there is a threat of snowstorms, except 20 times worse.

Anyway, I really loved the set up.  We would deal with cold weather for a couple of months, then it was back to sunshine for most of the year.  I didn't really miss the spring or fall.  In fact, I became increasingly annoyed when I would go home for Thanksgiving and it was in the thirties while Charleston was sitting in the sixties.

Living in Washington, DC is going to be more like living back in Tennessee season wise.  It's already starting to get a bit of chill in the air.  Leaves are turning and on my walk home I'm starting to hear the familiar crunch of leaves that have fallen from the trees under my shoes.  The mornings are freezing and it's not hard to get out of bed (yet), but it is getting harder and harder to leave the shower.  I realized this weekend that I need to go shopping, that I'm hopelessly unprepared for this winter.  I'm already dreading the snow and ice that is sure to come.  I've also started complaining about the cold weather.

However, on my afternoon walk with Rocky, I found myself standing in the middle of the sidewalk, eyes closed, just breathing in the crisp, fall breeze.  I could feel fall.  The cool air wrapped me like a warm, cozy blanket.  I could feel the leaves falling from the trees gently brush by.  I could hear kids laughing and dogs barking.  The sun was just starting to fade and the last bit of sunlight was hitting my face.  A huge smile spread across my face.  In that moment, it hit me.  I missed fall.  I miss this time of year when the day is just cool enough for a long sleeve shirt, but too warm for a jacket.  I miss the hot chocolate, the scarves, and the boots.  I miss watching my breath in the air (I'm going to regret saying that in about a month).  Mostly, I miss watching the leaves changing colors.

I never knew how much I missed fall.