Why I think about Halloween in August

Summer, as our kids know it, is just about over.  For some, I guess school has already begun but for us it doesn’t begin until two days after the holiday.  That leaves…let me check the calendar…twelve days left before my youngest has to move on to a more rigid schedule.  Oh yes, he is very excited.

If you believe that, I have a couple hundred books I’d like to sell you.

Every summer about this time I think back on the months behind us and I know it’s been a good summer if I’m satisfied with how much time we actually spent doing what we said we’d do. 

Am I pleased with how our summer went?

Yes, I am very pleased.

Something else that happens to me during this time of year is the inability to ignore a longing for the next season to come.  I don’t want summer to end, really I don’t, but for a month now I’ve tried my best to overlook the onslaught of holiday trinkets and things literally surrounding all the school supplies at the box stores or bulging off the racks at the local craft stores.  Christmas I enjoy, because it’s a fun time of year and all about family, but the months I really enjoy decorating for are the fall season as a whole and Halloween.  And there are lots and lots of fall and Halloween decorations out there.

Check out these little framed stickers I couldn’t pass up…

 

That’s a pencil underneath the frames to show you how small they are.  I do scrapbook but I didn’t buy them for any scrapbook or handmade card.  Instead, I immediately thought they’d make great decorations for my doll house around Halloween.  If you don’t know about my fascination with miniatures, check out this post here. 

The arrival of the school year and the glitz and glamour of new holiday items aren’t the only reason I look forward to the fall season and holiday beginnings.  I also very much enjoy the weather during the change in seasons.  I love the beautiful days we’re having which begin with a chill and which let you sleep easier with a much cooler evening breeze.  We get to enjoy our yard more because we’re working in it less.  The lawn doesn’t need to be mowed as often and the garden is winding down (except for the pumpkins and mine are doing awesome this year!).  The leaves are beginning to change colors and I always look forward to the beautiful photos I can take as the trees show off their glory before shedding their weight for the winter. 

In fact, the leaves are already falling.  Sad, but true.  As I was writing this evening, I kept hearing a noise.  A snap, a crackle…but I wasn’t quite sure from where.  I became certain it must be the deer, using the arrival of dusk to mask their entrance onto our property from the woods and into the yard.  At least three times I stood up to glance out my office window, hoping to catch them either at my rose garden or out by the plum trees. 

But there wasn’t a deer in sight.

Finally, when I heard the snap and crackle again, I glanced towards the maple tree outside and wouldn’t you know it?  The noise I heard were leaves hitting other leaves as they were falling down the length of the tree.  Very soon, we’ll be hearing other noises as the little helicopters fall from the maple trees.  You know what I’m talking about?  The seeds with wings?  They spin continuously as they fall to the ground and are actually fun to watch.  But eventually we have hundreds of them all over the place along with all the leaves.  Oh well, what does fall mean if it’s not for falling leaves?

Speaking of the deer, they are back for more snacks.  I just heard one of them snort outside and I can hear them chewing on the pits of the plums as they eat them.  It’s too dark now to see them though.  They are smart like that.  And pretty much why they eventually get their way.

While I am looking forward to the change in seasons and the holidays to come, I still plan to enjoy what we have left of our summer.  But unlike my son, my summer won’t end just because school starts.  It will end when Mother Nature finally decides it’s time to change her mood.