The Autumn of My Life

At 69, I find myself in the autumn of my life.  Since autumn has always been my favorite time of year, I'm happy to be here.  For me the beauty of this season is without parallel.  The air, the colors, the smells, the holidays are just a few of the many glorious gifts autumn bestows. 

Now retired, I have plenty of time to take long walks with my hubby and dog, Shadow.  The crisp air fills my lungs with pure freshness.  Sometimes, if a neighbor is burning leaves, that smoky fragrance curling into my nose conjures up memories of my youth, raking, romping through, and finally incinerating piles and piles of dry, crackling leaves.

And the colors, oh, the colors!  Living in Pennsylvania in autumn is akin to being in one of Norman Rockwell's picturesque paintings.  Gorgeous reds, yellows, oranges, purples, and greens are splashed across the hillsides resembling a heaping bowl of Trix cereal without the marshmallows, of course.   In my autumn years, I've become more colorful, too.  My thoughts are more vibrant, my words, more intense, and my actions, well I'm doing things I would never have considered in my younger days and don't care a lick about what anybody else thinks!  Including you, my dear bloggers!

Cinnamon and vanilla are the two smells I most associate with autumn.  Apple Crisp, fresh-baked cinnamon rolls, and tapioca pudding were constant Saturday fare in my baba's kitchen. I loved to sit in her rocking chair and just smell.  As soon as the rolls were out of the oven, I'd con her into giving me one or two; this way I could let her know if they were up to her usual standards. Now I drink cinnamon lattes and wear vanilla-scented body lotion!  Hey, the yuppie generation has nothing on this ole gal!

And, as a kid, my favorite holiday was Halloween.  We didn't have store-bought costumes.  Instead we spent tons of time thinking of what we wanted to be.  Then we'd dig through the house to find all the stuff needed to become that being. Once I was a hobo, another time, a clown, and still another time, a "Charleston" chick.

Halloween undoubtedly remains the best holiday in my book.  In the third season of my life, I continue to bum around, act the fool, and kick up my heels on the dance floor when I get the opportunity.  The only difference is my kicks are not quite as high!  Who cares, I can cut a rug just as good as anyone I've seen on Dancing with the Stars lately.

Ah-huh, I'm in the autumn of my life and loving it.  I celebrate each day with a smile and a healthy zest for living and learning.  It's beautiful here in autumn; everything is beautiful at this time of year.
And, I'm having the time of my life!