I Just Can't Get Enough

It's clearer that winter is quickly approaching. The leaves are rapidly changing to rusty oranges, vibrant reds, and golden yellows. My heater is at work, whirring in the corner. Next to me is a mustard yellow ceramic mug filled with hot chocolate and whipped cream. The weather forecast for this weekend is boasting about a slight chance for wet snow.

Autumn is my favorite season and every year, it seems to slip by too fast. I make an effort to save time for a few traditions each year and with Aiden, that seems even more important. Fall parades, apple cider, painting pumpkins, corn mazes, hay rides. There is just something about this season that deserves special attention. Perhaps it's the smell of pumpkin spice or the way it feels to wake up on a cold morning but I can never get enough.

One of the things I love most about my sleepy, little, hometown is that we always celebrate holidays and traditions in the best ways - from our tree lighting, to our annual carnival. This weekend was our fall festival complete with a pancake breakfast, petting zoo, bake sale, flea market and of course, the parade.

The funny thing about the Wellsville parade is that everyone is in the parade, there are hardly any spectators. Between the firetrucks, tractors, antique cars, floats and children walking in costume, the sides of the street are fairly bare.

That just means more candy to catch.

On Sunday, I squeezed my schedule to make time for pumpkin painting. I put off a marketing paper, read my economics assignment at the laundry mat, finished folding my clothes at 10:00 p.m. but hey, the pumpkins got painted.

Aiden selected a "martial arts" theme for his pumpkin. This meant a funny mustache, a white stem, "martial arts symbols", and army tank drawings. Me? I settled for a tiger.

When things didn't go quite as planned for our afternoon, we snuggled up on the couch to watch Puss N Boots. Too bad I rented the wrong one. (You got me this time, RedBox.) Who knew that an animated movie about a cat, with all of the characters voices narrated by William Shatner, could be so bad? So bad, that we watched it twice.

The second time? More unbearable than the first. So instead, we settled for baking gluten free pumpkin muffins, complete with cream cheese filling in the center. Who knew a six year old could be so good at cracking eggs?

Autumn, stay a while. I'm not ready for snow.