Seasonal Infatuation

Every year at the beginning of August, I start to get excited. Preseason NFL football begins and that is the signal of one thing - fall is right around the corner. Maybe it's the eternal New Englander in my heart, but I absolutely love the fall and feel lucky as heck that I get to experience this season every year in the area that I do.

There are a few reasons that of all the seasons I enjoy the fall the most.

Football: I've always been a football. fan. I can remember being in middle school on the phone with another friend who loved football and yelling at the TV during games. My mom would worry about me when this happened. Part of the reason I joined the marching band in high school was the free admission to the football games... as well as the ability to catch the away games, also for free. I love the game, I love the competition. To me - fall means football.

9 minute highlight reel of my favorite Patriots player - #80, Troy Brown.

Apple Everything: The fall means that the apple crops in New England are coming to harvest, which means that there's apples everywhere. Apple pie, apple cider, apple crisp. Steve and I have now gone apple picking together two years in a row and it's just a fun tradition to have. Apples are one of my favorite foods - raw, cooked, in juice form, in hard cider form, with cinnamon... love apples.

Apple Picking at Mack's in Londonderry - YES.

Beautiful Colors: Anyone who lives in New England knows what I mean when I say that we have the "gray months" around here. It starts right around the middle of November and ends sometime in mid-to-late January when the snow starts to fall a bit heavier (making things a different kind of pretty). However - before these awful, boring months kick in there is this gorgeous explosion of color. Rooms in northern New Hampshire, Vermont, and western Massachusetts book up full of "leaf peepers" looking to take in this amazing site. Besides - when they fall off and are raked in a big pile, there's nothing more fun than jumping into a big pile of freshly raked leaves.

A Shot Pre-Foliage Peak: Lincoln, NH

The Air: Some people hate that fall chill - but I love it. It's crisp, it's not too cold yet, it's got a unique feeling to it. The fall air reminds me of walking to school and running my feet through the leaves that had accumulated, taking in deep breaths and just loving life with every step. I can't wait for the rain to break this weekend (and the darned heat!) so I can take a run in it on Sunday morning.

The Food: There's something about football and apples that brings about some awesome food. Chili, apple crisp, pumpkin pies, butternut squash soup, warm apple cider, cider donuts. The fall food is just so incredibly comforting. I already touched on this recently with my Top 5 Football Foods post - but there's a lot more to love about fall food.

I am so glad the fall is here; I just wish it wasn't such a short season. Maybe one of these years it will last just a little bit longer into November...