Having grown up "up North" as Floridians refer to it (Bridgeport and Chesire Connecticut to be specific), I had the awesome pleasure of experiencing all four seasons. While I realize that older folks who transplant here permanently or even seasonly do so to avoid the harshness of winter, I have only a child's memories of making snow angels, trying to catch an elusive snow flake on my tongue, being warned of the dangers of eating "yellow snow" (too gross to explain), and flying down a hill on my flexible flyer (sled).
Though I have lived in Florida since age 13, married a native Floridian, can eat fried okra and make buttermilk biscuits from scratch with the best of them, I still become melancholy at this time each year as I yearn for the beauty of autumn -- so much so, that last week I dug out my fall decorations and have them up throughout (read in almost every nook and cranny of) the house already. Though he doesn't say much about this, my husband did question my sanity a bit as I did this on September 1st and Autumn doesn't officially begin until September 22nd.
I still have a now yellowed article I had clipped from the October 15-17 1999's USA Weekend on my office bulletin board that gives websites (back when I was completely new to the internet) for fall foliage hotlines and live foliage webcams. We only had dial-up for the longest, so the live webcams were not too great then, but now that we finally upgraded to high speed, I'm looking forward to seeing the magnificent show God produces for us to enjoy.
Having these bits and pieces of the season I miss the most helps me to keep my childhood memories alive -- like picking out our pumpkin at a place that made fresh apple cider with an old fashioned press that you could watch, raking leaves into piles to jump in, and making our very own scarecrow using those raked leaves and our dad's old clothes. Now that I am a mom myself, I have someone to share these treasured memories with.
2 comments:
Cindy, I'm right there with you, girl! I've lived in Florida for eight years, and I miss the season changes so much! Every fall I make it a point to head back to Kentucky to take in the beautiful landscape, and now that I'm a mom I want my son to experience the fall like I knew it as a child.
Great post!
Fall is definitely my most favorite season!! I lived in Florida for almost 8 years and never traveled north to see the leaves change the whole time. I felt kind of depressed, like you, when September rolled around. My house was a "shrine" to autumn too.
Now that I am living in the Northeast, the fall is even more amazing than I remembered it. I am giddy with excitement at the thought of it being just around the corner! My kids love it too!
I miss Florida and my friends sooo much. But one of the biggest bonuses of our move was experiencing all that Autumn has to offer!!
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