The Fading of Fall

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and in my mind, the official end of fall.  Maybe that's why it's never really been one of my favorite holidays.  I can be thankful (and try my best to be) every day.  I don't need a special day to realize how blessed I am no matter bad things look from time to time.  This month in particular has been a trying one.  We'll no doubt run out of money before the end of the month, and I've already got commitments to pay past due bills on the first, so we'll be going into December already behind.

That means several things, next month is going to be rough, and well, no one is getting any gifts for Christmas.  It'll be okay though, we had the same situation last year and it seems like the holidays end up being even more special because we realize that the frills and fluff aren't the most important things after all.

I'm getting ahead of myself though.  I'm going to miss fall.  As much as I love the holiday season, the bright lights, the decorations, and hopefully (fingers and toes crossed) lots of snow, I'll miss the crunch of leaves underfoot;  The crispness in the air that only fall can manage.  I'll miss the colors of the trees in the yard and on the highways where usually that's the only thing worth looking at in the monotony of cars and pavement.  I'll miss the scents that linger in the air, scents I can't really describe, but are there nonetheless.

Tomorrow, fall will wither away like the fading leaves on the trees, slowly becoming bare.

There's a beauty there all it's own though, and as usual, nature replaces one beauty with another.   Things now though will pick up, people will either be a little bit kinder or a little bit more rude, in some cases a lot more rude.  Drivers will be more likely to honk their horns at you, or flip you off as they drive by.  People in the malls won't smile as often or as freely.  Everyone will be in a hurry, going here and there, preparing, in too  many cases spending too much money for too many things.

To me, fall is simpler, easier, like the calm before the storm.  I'm looking forward to Christmas, don't get me wrong, but I'll miss fall when it's gone too.  I'll look forward to it all year, until once more the leaves start to fade from green to brilliant orange and red and yellow, to finally drop to the ground to crunch under my bare feet (yes, bare) and leave the tree limbs naked as they spike up into the not quite as blue skies.

I'm going to send it out with a bang though, decorating starts tomorrow so that I can enjoy the Christmas season, kinda like Cindy Lou Who before the Grinch saved the day.  Hopefully I'll find a Grinch for the Riley family, but if not?  Well that's okay too, a tree is just as beautiful all dressed up without anything tumbled beneath it to take away from it's splendor.

So, I guess that's it.  Happy Thanksgiving one and all, and for those who don't celebrate the day, Happy Thursday.  Make it a thanksgiving Thursday, and remember how many blessings we all have, because no matter how rough life gets, no matter how many trials we have to endure, in the end, it's our life and that in itself is enough to be thankful for.