Fall\’s arrived

This morning when I woke and climbed out of bed, I felt a cold floor for the first time in months. The living area and kitchen were cool too, from breezes coming in through the window.On my walk to the post I had to wear a light sweater and when I stopped at my favourite birch trees the bark was peeling rapidly. Even at the weekly market the flowers had gone from bright pinks and yellows to deep reds and orange.It\’s fall.For most, fall seems to be a busy time; it\’s people going back to school, shopping for winter wear, taking last minute trips, getting ready for hibernation and holidays ahead. But for me, fall is the sweetest, laziest, simplest time there is.One would think this would be summer but I always end up chasing summer hard; there\’s always trips to take, games to play, gardens to tend to, hikes to make, friends visiting, so much daylight that the day never ends.Fall lets me slow down.It\’s when I take longer to get up in the morning because I need to hold my tea cup that much longer and sip two cups instead of one. It\’s when the pace of my walk slows so that I can see all the changes happening and sometimes stop my walk altogether (as I had to this morning when hail struck for ten minutes. This lead me to just sit under a flower tent at the market and stare at the most amazing flowers). Fall is when I take a week long trip into the mountains to do absolutely nothing except feel small and amazed by what the largeness and age of all that surrounds me.There\’s currently a lot of change going on with my life (career, home, family, friends) and I should be moving at an alarming speed, freaking out over all that needs to be done, trying to be some kind of superwoman. But I\’m not.Instead I\’m just doing what I can in a quiet way, trusting that surrendering to everything, enjoying the moments, and slowing down will get me where I need to go faster than if I moved like a bullet.This is what fall is, to me. Slowing down whilst knowing that everything else is changing too without rush or worry. Taking comfort in the fact that it\’ll all happen as it happens and enjoying all the moments inbetween.A good movie for this entry and for fall is the charming and sweet little movie, Tuck Everlasting (made for children but, I disgress). My favourite scene for understanding how to slow down is the amazing part with the cherries being pitted one at a time. How is that for slowing down and enjoying the process rather than the clock.Also, to help you ease into fall and slow down, I\’ve added a Tea article to my recipe section.