the most awesome time of year!

     This is one of my favourite times of the year, maybe my absolute favourite!  Fall is on it's way.  it's not "officially" fall, but in the last couple of days, the air has cooled, the sun has lost some of her strength and there's a distinct crisp smell in the air, cool and clean with a hint of loose leaf paper and pencil undertones.  The leaves are beginning to change into it's symphony of colour. In the evenings I can wear a hoodie and at night, I can snuggle with my warm blankies, but I don't have to turn the heat on yet.

​Even better, especially for a big guy like me who loves to eat, it's harvest time!  Apples, pears, all kinds of yummy garden treats.  And it's cool enough to cook!  It's that time again when soups, stews, roasts, etc., are all not only appropriate, they're practically required.  And because I'm married to a freakin' kitchen goddess (seriously, I know, she doesn't really look like she eats much, let alone cooks, but damn, that girl is a cross between a professional chef and one of those old time fat grandmas that give the best hugs and make the best cookies!), I get to have lots of treats.  There's a rumour afloat in the house right now that if I'm a good boy today, a pear cobbler might be in my near future (I suspect even if I'm a bad boy, I mean, the pears have to be used).  I just love the smell of fresh baked goods!

​So, that's my ode to fall, or, if I were Sheldon Cooper, "pre-fall" (those of you that watch The Big Bang Theory will get that..."prevning"... pre-fall).  It's awesome, it's really  the perfect time of year, still plenty of nice, warm days, with cool air and crisp nights.  For me, it feels like a chance to start over, to begin anew; a time when anything and everything is possible.  It's a time when the slate is, once again, wiped clean and should we choose to, we can reinvent ourselves, or our lives or just take a new and unexpected turn.  I'm not sure why I feel that, but I'm guessing it goes back to those good old school days, the new supplies, the new clothes, the new school year, another opportunity to start fresh.  I was never much of a student, and I never really loved, or liked school, but I did love the lead up to the first day and the first week or so. 

​In honour of all that, I painted this piece yesterday.  In keeping with the season which I just described, I called it Cool and Crisp.  And like this time of year, you can see and feel the tabula rasa, the blank slate in the landscape, stunningly beautiful on its own, but even more so because of the possibilities, the wonderful things just waiting for you on the horizon, the feeling that yes, you can, no matter what it is, yes, you can.  And you know what, I think it's true.

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