looking for Autumn

Even though

I

am

a

California girl

from

September

to

December

I

pretend

that

we

(San Luis Obispo)

have

a

cool

crisp

colorful

mid-western-ish

New Enland-ish

Autumn!

our

house

becomes

alive

with

pumpkins

and owls

and silly

little

pumpkin

critters

that hide

among

the

fallen

(well, silk)

leaves


I

bake

pumpkin cookies

and

pumpkin muffins

butternut squash with honey

and

apple crisps

hearty soups

and

stews

To make it really

feel

even

more

Autumnal

(is that a word?)

Toulouse

and

I decide

to go

leaf

peeking

Once

the wine grapes

are

harvested

the

leaves

begin

to

turn

beautiful colors

That's the view

from

Edna Valley Vineyards

looking

towards

Islay Hill

:(

not too

many

colors yet

Some of

the leaves

are

changing

and some leaves

are not

here

and

there

Toulouse

and

I

will head out again

soon

to find

more

colors

of

Autumn

In the meantime,

I

am

off

to

eat

a

pumpkin oatmeal

cookie

with a cup

of

hot

mulled

cider