We welcome the autumnal season at 2:50 on Saturday morning. Fall is my absolute favorite season. I love everything about fall unless I feel pessimistic and remember that winter will come after fall. However, I rarely feel pessimistic and try to focus on the beautiful fall colors, seasonal fall produce, and my favorite holidays. I look forward to wearing sweaters, sweatshirts, fall boots, and shoes and carrying fall purses. I much prefer fall makeup to summer colors, and I love our fall scents for soap and moisturizer. I welcome fall with open arms, a big smile, and a tight squeeze.
Fall is also festival season. I feel like The Bibbed Wonder, and I should make more of an effort to participate in fall festivals, but truth be told, once our weekly farmer's market at Ligonier is over, we are spent. I greatly enjoy our little festival here at the farm. It is low-key, filled with all my favorite people, and I enjoy welcoming my soap family to the place I love the most. Spending a few hours in our open field with people who are happy to be here doesn't get much better. We are working on several projects to prepare for our day at the farm and are excited to have everyone come and enjoy themselves.
Looking ahead, I am already prepping for our little community's Halloween hayride and trick-or-treat. Our neighbors plan a fantastic hay ride every year for the kids on our road and surrounding friends and families. My Bean plans to participate for one more year, and then she feels like she has aged out of trick-or-treating. I won't even begin to lament about how sad this makes me. Usually, I give the kids full-size candy bars. However, this year, I am thinking about doing treat bags with various treats. One of my favorite things about living in Brookville, Pennsylvania, was trick-or-treat night. I used to prepare elaborate treat bags and walk my niece and nephew around the town trick or treating, telling passersby to go to 179 Franklin Avenue because they were giving out amazing treats. Those were fun times. Once we got onto the hayride trick-or-treat map, I again enjoyed a crowd of trick-or-treaters.
Along with Halloween and the spooky season come Halloween movie nights. We will, of course, do our annual viewing of my favorite movie, Hocus Pocus. The Bean now likes actual horror films, which I don't care for as much, but we compromise. I remember being fourteen and loving to be scared with my friends—safe scares, not genuine scares. As an adult, I fully understand what it is to be genuinely afraid, which isn't fun. However, I will watch The Birds, Psycho, and The Sixth Sense with my little buddy and give in to the suspension of disbelief for a few hours. Watching The Haunted Mansion, Halloween Town, and The Witches will be more enjoyable for me. Of course, one cannot forget It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! I don't think I will ever grow up.
Not only is it fall festival season, sweater season, and spooky season, but it is also soup season! I love soup! Although The Bean and The Bibbed Wonder complain if I feed them too much soup, I try to incorporate at least one soup a week. If I get too carried away, I am bombarded with comments like, "Soup is a lumpy drink!" or "I need something hearty, like a burger!" or "Why does Buster get solid food and we have to live on a liquid diet? It's not fair! You love Buster more than us!" "Sigh. Is it any wonder I love my dog as much as I do? Buster never complains; he doesn't poke me in the butt or belly button and yell funny comments at the top of his voice. Unlike teenagers and man-child husbands, he never refuses to cuddle me and is happiest spending time with me. Sigh. I love my dog.
So, dear reader, I welcome fall with open arms and anticipation. I can't wait for our event on October 7th. I am looking forward to all things fall and fun. On this gorgeous late summer day, stay safe, be smart, embrace the end of summer and welcome fall, and, of course, keep washing your hands.