fall: friend or foe?

in high school, i worked on the school newspaper in journalism class for 1 trimester. journalism turned out to have rules about writing, like, what you wrote had to be true, you had to actually talk to people to have a real story, and you had to have a verb in your headlines. for the last reason, my headline, computer lab: friend or foe? had to undergo major revisions. for all those reasons, journalism proved not to be such a good fit for me. yearbook, where the page header "the grizzlies are back and better than ever," which was probably no where near truth, was featured prominently and colorfully on one of the pages i designed turned out to be a better fit, as did art, where talking to other people was optional, or at least free to be on whichever subject i chose, and not just school events. i satisfied my writing passion in english, where i could be creative, or just support any outlandish opinion in key-hole essay format, with two quotes per paragraph. now i triumphantly resurrect my headline for today's post and you cannot stop me, mr. hendrix.

anyhoo, for most of my life, i have not been a big fan of fall. sure, the leaves are pretty (who am i kidding though? the only leaves that turn where i grew up were the oak tree leaves and they turned beige. whoopty-doo. fall was a tv/magazine season. a season you fake by buying leafy wreaths at michael's. much like winter is in central america--i was in costa rica right before christmas, and everything was decorated with snowmen and holly.) BUT fall ultimately means the end of summer. which means no more sleeping in and then reading all day, which is basically how i spent 95% of my summer days. i loathe getting up early. NOTHING about life seems pleasant or worthwhile, or even tolerable, save for the warmth and coziness of my bed, in the morning. and fall means that every day subsequent to the first day of school, morning seems more and more like night, the darkness further enveloping you, practically pressing you to your bed. then, it's practically dark again by the time you get home from work or school.

but, sure when it's been in the 100s for the fourth month in a row, fall does start to have its appeal. fall starts flirting with you, telling you of all it has to offer. new fall tv shows! weather that supports wearing sweaters! an excuse not to shave as much! the upcoming holidays! most alluring though, is the food...winter squash, soups and stews, things baked with cinnamon and nutmeg. things like apple crisp. which i was very excited to make and consume last night, as was jake. my favorite recipe is "old-fashioned apple crisp" by ina garten.

it quickly went from this:

to this:

to this:

and these bad boys are chilling on the counter waiting to be turned into some yummy soup, or maybe some risotto, or if i get really ambitious, some butternut squash lasagna (which is a blogpost i never wrote...maybe i'll find the pic and type up the recipe real quick this week. it is soooo good.)

ok, fall, you win. you always do.