just for now.

I know you can find Christmas carols playing in some stores and on certain radio stations, but guys, it’s still fall.

And I am not going to move on so quickly. I will slurp every last drop of Fall Goodness from my cup of life. It’s just that good. For instance:

Isaiah loves reading his new library book, Thanksgiving Treat.

It’s about a little boy (about his age) who arrives at Grandma and Grandpa’s for Thanksgiving, and his whole family is there– the aunts baking pies, uncles chopping wood, and cousins skinning potatoes. You know, the quintesintial Thanksgiving. (Ever had it in real life?)

Anyway, this little boy isn’t allowed to help with anything until Grandpa finds him out on the swing and takes him to hunt chestnuts (down the lane past the sheep, of course). As they walk back to the house with their basket full of chestnuts, it starts to snow, and they are welcomed inside by a wood fire and smiling family.

And when I read it, I get a little shiver of happiness because it reminds me of the essence of this season. It’s about being with family, obviously, but it is also that feeling of it’s just the beginning.

You know Christmas is coming, too, but you’re not quite there yet. And on some days (at least, here in Virginia) it smells cold and crisp. You pull out your favorite scarf and go for a stroll, admire the leaves, anticipate snow…. well, more like, pray for snow at some point before Spring. It’s different from the dead of winter because there is still color, and while the chill is real, it’s not bitter and you don’t have to hole up inside yet. Not that I don’t like nesting on the couch with hot cocoa and a movie….but I can wait for it.

Just being where I am, today– right now– it is good.

And anyway, fall is my favorite.