Celebrating Autumn in Twelve Easy Steps

Well, September has rushed in, tossing summer over its shoulder as it came—and before we can catch our breath, Christmas, with all its attending chaos and busyness will be here! But somewhere between Labor Day and Christmas Day, autumn will come and go, and it deserves attention. And we deserve those moments of beauty that will slip past like billboards on the freeway if we don’t stop and take a moment to notice.

So, in order to live a little more deliberately, I’ve created a list of things I’m going to do between now and the first of December—twelve items, one for each week—that will celebrate fall. None takes very much time, and all are fun to do. I’ll post a picture on my Facebook page as I complete each one so you can see how this goes. And I challenge you to join me with your own list!

Here’s my list:

1. Buy a new spicy candle for my kitchen.
2. Bake an apple pie.
3. Replace my comfy but ancient, never-leave-the-house sweater with one that doesn’t have shoulder pads the size of cantaloupes.
4. Hang an autumn wreath on my front door.
5. Create an arrangement of pumpkins on my front porch.
6. Take a picnic to the Napa Valley after the leaves in the vineyards change.
7. Try a new soup recipe.
8. Carve a Jack o’ Lantern
9. Make a meal for the homeless shelter my church operates in November.
10. Take a long walk with dog and husband on a warm Sunday afternoon.
11. Bake a pumpkin pie from a pumpkin.
12. Cheer on our local high school at a Friday night game. (Go, Wildcats!)

So, what will you do to touch the season, or let it touch you, before it flies away? I’ll bet your kids have some great ideas of ways to celebrate autumn. And send me pictures so I can post them, too!  I know. The mere idea of shoehorning one more thing into an already impossibly busy schedule can be pretty exhausting. But these will be the moments you remember. Promise!