American Fall

The beginning of the fall has a special feel on this side of the Atlantic... I don't know if I'm the only one who have this impression? Perhaps it's because in the two cities I've lived in, Sacramento and now Baton Rouge, we appreciate the end of oppressive summers? Here in Louisiana, instead of the average 90-95 degrees, it finally got down to 70ish, so inevitably, we feel like we can finally breath...

Or, and most importantly, it's because the mood warms up before the festivities to come... Halloween and Thanksgiving... The natural light kinda changes, everything turns to orange, pumpkins are everywhere!
Anyway, for me, it means I'm done with the AC, I can open my windows for the first time in 5 months, I can go outside with something else on my feet than flip flops, and I even start to glance at my boots that haven't seen the light since last February. Finally a little bit of class! I can't wait! I would have never thought that one day I'd be so excited to see Fall coming.

Here in Louisiana foliage hasn't turned yellow, orange and red yet. I guess it's still too warm for that... After all, just a few weeks ago we were still at the beach... So I find other ways to get in the mood: buying squashes and gourds at the supermarket, throwing a pine cone wreath together, and lighting my pumpkin scent candle in the living room. The choice of pumpkins in stores is quite impressive! Some of those I have never seen in France. So pretty. They'll end up becoming soups (yum), pumpkin pies (I still can't eat that shit), or outside on the porch for Halloween.

Fall in the USA seems to be a real business, (like everything, really). Of course, Halloween explains that, I'll talk about it later. But from looking at the stores shelves, I still feel like the change of season itself is downright a pretext to redecorate the whole house and garden!

 

 

From a neighborhood to the other, people are more or less obsessed: fall foliage wreath, pumpkins on the door steps, smiley faces scarecrows, baskets filled with corn cobs and all sort of squashes, etc... a true celebration! Actually, though I sound critical, I love it. I think that just wandering around and seeing all the decorated porches and beautiful colors warms the heart.

So now I just need to get to work. I still have a Halloween costume to put together, pumpkins to carve, and a warm spiced cider recipe to master...

I might be disappointing but I haven't given into crazy decoration outside my place. Not yet. However, the mild temperatures and the thought of not having sweat running down the back had me setting a foot outside and re-exploring my garden. And there was a bunch of simple pretty things:

Pretty mushrooms:

Little white balls breaking out of their shells, colorful Lantanas:

Two pretty flowers growing out of nowhere, and my pepper, growing at a good pace and soon ready for a home made Tabasco experience!:

I'm also a little excited to be able to sit on my porch again, swinging on my rocking chair, sipping a glass of wine, watching the squirrels running and jumping from a tree to another, without sweating, and without even being eaten alive by mosquitos. I wanna say: Long live the fall!