Slow Down

I'm starting to feel the pull of slowing down. Of wrapping up and closing my house, snuggling into winter. The air is turning crisp, slowly. The breeze, while the same temperature as just weeks ago, feels differently, chilling me deeply while before it cooled the warmth of my skin. I'm feeling the oddness of flip flops on my feet and have started gravitating toward covering my toes. Opting for boots on Sunday with my summer dress.

Hot chocolate canisters are jockeying for the front position in my pantry once again. My Cocomotion being dusted off and readying for another season, sleek with anticipation. My freezer is filling, my pantries being stocked. Dates set for our annual potato harvest trek. Roasts are once again being cooked. I'm turning to soup for lunch more and more.

This limbo time between peach juice running off elbows and soup simmering on the stove all day for warmth is my favorite place to be. Wrapping up in a blanket with the windows open. My skirts being teamed with a cardigan once the sun dips and fades. Sipping hot chocolate and lemonade all in the same day, matching the various states of layered outfit changes. Ignoring the whines of others that winter is coming too soon, much too soon. Picking up the skin you shed at the beginning of summer and snuggling back in to the familiar rhythms of family and friends and routine.

It surprises me every year, this love I have for fall. It's strong and unyielding. Each September reveals hidden, more deeper meaning than before. I find parallels in life to be stronger in the fall than any other season. While I oft see the need for hearth and home, the fall brings it to my consciousness like no other. Food stored. My boys close. Plans slowed. Breathing purposeful. Resolve renewed. It feels very much like my personal New Year.

This year's pull has begun. My internal countdown to winter has started. I hear it on the wind and feel it in my bones. I tug on my boots and breathe. Deeply. Feeling the pull toward the things in my life that truly, deeply matter.


(feeling the pull - the swell season)