A is for Autumn

A is for autumn. 

Pumpkin patches, cinnamon sticks, cozy sweaters, rustling leaves, wood-burning fires, seasonal Starbucks drinks, and all-things-apple (think: pies, sauces, cobblers, and cakes) - these are a few of the images that come to mind as I consider the fall months. Or, in my situation, fall weeks/days, since fall is much shorter here in Alaska than in other states (much-too-short in my opinion.)

I love fall, plain and simple.

When I see those first golden streaks of leaves changing color, it conjures up memories of running to Starbucks en route to church on Sunday mornings with my best friend Elyse. We were in our early 20's, living together as roommates in San Diego, going to college. Fall was our favorite time of year, especially since we loved pumpkin scones, pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice lattes, and dressing in layers (perhaps to hide our enjoyment of all our seasonal treats.) The cool, crisp autumn days were perfect for all of our wild adventures and late nights, throwing caution to the wind as we downed gigantic frozen yogurt cups and brownie sundaes, and pulled all-nighters writing papers and prank-calling classmates through our makeshift three-way "match-making service" (we'd dial a random male classmate and then call a separate female classmate, unbeknownst to one another, and then merge the phone calls, all the while laughing hysterically as we let things play out for our unsuspecting victims.) Occasionally, we'd use our screeching monkey toy to add background noise, and entertainment value, if the conversations took a turn for the worst. Oh, the shenanigans of young girls attending private Christian school! (This is a glimpse of my wilder days.)

I suppose that I also love the fall season because growing up in Hawaii, there are really only two seasons - the summer season and the rainy season (our version of winter.) In many ways, I feel like I missed out on a childhood's worth of fall days. 

Fall is a welcome transition here in Alaska, sandwiching the lovely, longer days of summer and the harsh, darker days of winter. We even get beautiful color palettes, which only debut during the autumn months. Even though I miss my hometown of Maui terribly some days (mainly, during the winter), I'll take fall as my consolation.

Ken, baby girl, and I were able to snap some sweet fall photos while out at the park yesterday. It was a beautiful late afternoon. Alaska does fall colors quite well.

{Click on each photo to enlarge.}