As I recently mentioned on Facebook (causing a minor uproar), fall is the one season that I have little love for. The classic colors and weather are my least favorite, and it always seems a little eerie and deathly to me. I saw on a show recently (though I can't remember which one now, which makes it hard to reference) that the hour toward the end of the day when the light is all orange (which to me is the fall season in an hour) is indeed considered eerie in some Asian folklore because it is supposedly when ghosts roam around. If I find more definitive research on that legend, I'll have to write an update to this post. I don't really believe that that's why I find that hour uncomfortable, but it's curious to me that that feeling would be widespread enough in other parts of the world to have become a widespread belief. Btw, my aversion to fall and the sunset hour is not feeling I've developed in an attempt to revolt against what I call the "pumkin spice latte rabies" (otherwise known as hipsters' and pinteresters' extreme love of fall), but something I have felt since being a child. Just puttin' that out there, since it's certainly not beyond me to dislike something because I find it overly popular. Especially because it makes me feel a little bit guilty to dislike anything that is just a part of God's creation.
[Update: I haven't found more about the legend, but I did discover that in photography, that time of day with the orange light is called "the golden hour."]
That's not really what I want to talk about though. I find that some of my favorite blog posts written by others to be what I call "love lists." Sometimes it's a selection of products, a series of eateries, or a combination of colors that someone is really appreciating. Other times it's literally a list of things someone is thankful for. I love to hear what excites and inspires people and I always thing it's a good exercise to be thankful. That being said, I try and make a point of finding specific things that I enjoy during the time of year which I find generally unpleasantish. Here are previous posts in which I aimed to find the best in fall (1, 2) as well as 2 bloggers that I think do an especially good job of being thankful and finding joy in small things (1, 2).
Without further mumblings, here are some things I'm thankful for during fall 2012.
Crock pot apple cider. I find it too strong to drink sometimes and I'm not the hugest fan of cinnamon, but gosh, I do love the way mulled cider makes the house smell. I finally christened the mini crock pot we got as a wedding gift today with apple juice, spicy apple syrup stuff, star anise and orange peel (no cloves or cinnamon sticks in my collection yet). I added some of the syrup to my hot chocolate at work this morning, which ended up being a little cloying, but was a nice experiment. And now my house smells nice and spicy instead of like shrimp-broccoli stir fry.
Oxblood. This season's trending color. I don't know why it's called "oxblood" rather than "burgundy" or "deep red", but there you have it. Jewel tones are actually my favorite, which could be associated with fall I suppose, but when I say "I don't like fall colors", I'm referring to the red-orange-yellow-brown crayon color scheme. I find it kind of garish and incidentally, they are the least flattering colors for me to wear. Oxblood, on the other hand, is a long love of mine.
Presidential elections. No kidding. I get exhausted from arguing my various stances and I understand how depressing the state of US politics has been of late, but I still feel privileged to live in a country where I have the option to vote and this will be the first election that I vote in! I barely missed the age limit last time around. Dear everyone, try not to be discouraged, but instead take advantage of your freedom to vote, even if you feel like it might not make a huge difference!
Rain storms. I don't like windy coldness, but I do love a good storm and "sky monsters." This photo is the image I have in my head of Nebraska, where I was in a dear friend's wedding at this time last year.
Pumpkin stuff. I can barely bring myself to admit this one because of the extreme hype about it all. But I have to be honest, pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin ravioli are pretty darn delicious. As are roasted and seasoned pumpkin seeds. I hope I'm able to go to the "pumpkin killing" at church this year, an event in which our church launches pumpkins out of a huge cannon, much to the delight of all.
Fashion week(s) & the September issues of fashion magazines. I mean, they're like 1000 pages long each! I've recently translated some of my previous Vogue loyalty over to Elle, but I'm actually planning another blog post about that since there are surprisingly important reasons behind that, in my opinion. I'm thinking of getting an issue or two (of the October and November issues) for my upcoming hospital stay, perhaps. Besides these tomes of fashion, I also enjoy seeing snippets of all the designer's latest collections which start popping up about now.
Holiday parties. I know that kind of gets into winter territory, which I prefer, but the parties often happen a bit before the actual holidays! I like the opportunities to get dressy and eat good stuff this time of year. And have an excuse to shop. Jonas's favorite holiday yummy from Trader Joe's are the chocolate liquer cherries, and I'd love to try the new wine, "Dearly Beloved I Thee Red", if only for the enticing artwork. The chocolate truffles are pretty delicious too.
My son's birthday. Not sure what day it will be yet, but I'm pretty sure it will always be a special time of year to me because of this event, from here on out.
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