my favourite time of year

    As I sit here this morning, listening to the rain and being grateful that the air has cooled some, I began thinking about how much I love this time of year.  Fall is definitely my favourite season, as a person and especially as an artist.  As a person, I love how it starts to cool off after the long hot days of summer (well, strictly speaking, that hasn't really happened here yet), but yet during the afternoon, the sun still has enough strength to warm your face.  People are back to their regular routine, the hustle and bustle of daily life.

​As an artist, I love the fall because of all the wonderful inspiration the season provides.  The gorgeous, vibrant hues of red, yellow, orange and green of the trees. The bountiful colours of the harvest crops, green lettuce, red tomatoes, beans in all sorts of shades, green, yellow, purple (yes, purple, I had some and they were delicious!).  The crisp, clean smell of fresh apples waiting to be picked.  And of course, the taste of all of it!  It's like Mother Nature really pulls out all the stops, giving us all one final glorious display of her vibrancy and splendour before taking her rest.

​Fall also gives us a time for reflection. It's a time when we begin to make plans for the future; we begin thinking about changes and what we might want to tackle next.  The kids go back to school and it's an opportunity, for students, of school and life alike to begin anew, with a fresh clean slate and all of the hope and optimism that goes with that. And of course,  Thanksgiving, which is this weekend, gives us pause to sit back, take a moment and give thanks for all our blessings.  It's just a wonderful time of year!

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