Fall is (Almost) Here

So, it's early September, it's not so freakin' hot, and the stores have started to put out mass quantities of candy in orange and black bins. Everything is pointing to the fact that it's almost fall. My favorite time of year.

Back at Valpo, when it got to be fall, it would cool off, the leaves would change and we'd have a few days of rain. As it got to turn more to winter, there'd be snow and the inevitable slush -- old snow made dirty, wet, cold and nasty by rain and/or the warming of the environment so that the snow would melt. Like someone took a dirty brown slurpee and covered the earth with it.

On those cold, rainy days, my now-husband-then-boyfriend would say to me as we ran to the cafeteria trying to not get too wet, "Where are all those fall fans?!?" He loves the summer, which probably has something to do with why we live in Los Angeles now. But, back at Valpo, I'd laugh and raise my hand -- I loved the fall. The rain, the slush, the cold weather...it was so refreshing! Such a contradiction to the hot, humid summer we just had.

So, around this time, besides missing fall, I miss my family. This is probably the hardest time for me to be away from home. So many of my memories are of the family during fall -- school starting, volleyball season in swing, raking leaves, shovelling snow, just being outside and playing together. There are no leave changes here, no real rain (not until January, if at all), and none of my family is here. [This picture is circa 1985, our annual "First Day of School" photo]

I'm secretly hoping that they all find reasons to move out this way. Short of that, I'm hoping we make enough money to visit them often. Hopefully this will be the last of my homesick ramblings for awhile. I'm at the VA this month, which should provide enough fodder for discussion that I can focus this blog back on life on the wards!