Awesome Autumn

I never thought I’d say this living in Florida, but autumn is in the air. As bizarre and unexpected as it may be, Tallahassee has thus far proven a more seasonal city than Atlanta. One of my complaints about Atlanta was that, even when it looked beautiful outside (i.e. gray and rainy), it actually felt muggy. But despite being four-and-a-half hours south of Georgia’s capital city, Tallahassee has been tickling my fancy with a week of rainy and crisp, brisk, breezy weather. It actually feels cool outside when it’s raining here lately! And when you head out in the mornings, you almost feel a little too cool! How amazing is that???

Granted, Atlanta got chilly in the winter. I was surprised how much I’d freeze on January mornings while I waited for the train. But it always seemed to warm up by the afternoon. It didn’t necessarily get hot in the winter months, but it didn’t stay cool. It would eventually level out and become that temperature where you can’t even feel it, neither warm nor cool. But Tallahassee has remained cool, even in the middle of the day. It’s rather pleasant! The only thing I miss about Atlanta is that the leaves actually changed color up there. The change went quickly, but at least you got a day or two of vibrant oranges and reds to ogle.

It was especially nice to have cool weather today. We attended our local church’s “Trunk or Treat,” an early Halloween celebration where children dress up in their costumes and collect candy from the open trunks of participating vehicles. In my mind, Halloween and brisk weather go together like caramel and apples, so I was delighted to feel the temperatures a little more in sync with my memories than I had expected. We all had a good time. Edison was too intimidated to try the hay ride, but it is admittedly a somewhat pointless practice. Can it really be all that exciting to be slowly driven around a parking lot, just because you happen to be sitting on straw? Apparently.

For the record, Eddie scored a nice purple plastic pumpkin full of candy. When given a choice of what candy to take, Eddie would always take lollipops (if they were available), and he systematically sampled his whole collection after making his way down the row of parked cars. He’d dutifully unwrap each sucker, give it one or two licks, and promptly return it to its paper packaging. Something tells me we won’t have to worry about him wanting to eat all of his Halloween candy in one night. Just a sample of everything will do him fine.