September 14, 2005

Fall Meme

Here's a fall meme, in anticipation of the season. Since it is my meme, there are no rules. Do whatever you want.

Favorite fall dessert: Apple pie made by my mother.
Holiday: Halloween, of course. Any holiday that involves vast quantities of chocolate goes right to the top of my list.
Best fall memory: The birth of With-a-Why, my youngest child.
Worst fall memory: September 11, 2001. The day after the national election last fall comes second.
Most puzzling fall memory: In elementary school, back-to-school pencil cases always contained a protractor. I never could figure out why. We never used them until high school.
Best thing about fall walks: The mosquitoes are gone!
Favorite fall chore: Splitting wood. A wonderful way to work off anger. Of course, I have to wear steel-toed boots because my aim is terrible.
Least favorite fall chore: Throwing away food that went bad during those hot humid August weeks when I was not here.
Best change in the home: A fire in the fireplace again!
Favorite flower: Dark red chrysanthemums.
Best tree in the fall: Sugar maple.
Fall ritual: Taking a walk to gather handfuls of pretty leaves. Except then we never know what to do with the leaves so they get tossed.
Most frustrating thing about fall: Having to grade stacks of papers when the world outside my window is so ridiculously beautiful and inviting.
Favorite childhood game: Making houses out of leaf piles.
Favorite childhood memory: Sailing with my Dad on BigLake on gorgeous autumn days.
Favorite decorations: Pumpkins on doorsteps.
Favorite clothing: Jeans and a red sweatshirt. After a hot, humid summer, it feels great to wear clothes again.
Best scenery: Pretty Colour Lake, on a sunny day, with gold-red-yellow leaves crunching underfoot, brilliant red maples, yellow aspen, and green pines all reflected in the calm lake. Or a drive to the mountains on curving roads that wind through color so vivid it seems unreal.
Best fall travel tip: Bring ginger to prevent motion sickness on the drive through the mountains.
Favorite drink: Apple cider.
Best method of transportation: Horseback.
Traditional fall candy: Candy corns.
Favorite sound: Geese flying over head. Although I have to admit that the whining sound of a chainsaw always makes me think of fall too.
Best for fall sex: Percale sheets that have been dried on the clothesline. And cool air coming through the window makes cuddling a warm naked body feel great. Suddenly, warmth is a good thing.
Fall Song: Autumn in New York.
Reliable Prediction: We will get snow at least once before Halloween.
Best fall television show: The Charlie Brown Halloween special, of course. I still believe in the Great Pumpkin.

13 comments:

halloweenlover said...

Jo(e)!!! I can't even do this meme now, because my answers would all be the same. Pumpkins on doorsteps, apple cider, candy corns, a fire in the fireplace, halloween, its as if you are answering for me!!!

I have occasionally worried that I will get into a car accident while driving in the fall because the leaves distract me from the road with how breathtaking they are. Your description of "color so vivid it seems unreal" is SO RIGHT.

One thing I have to add, pumpkin ice cream or pumpkin muffins or pumpkin coffee. Yum.

Love the meme!

Running2Ks said...

So many answers of mine would be the same as well. I am in love with fall and summer just FINALLY broke again here. I love it all! Your answers make me so happy!

Rana said...

If I did this meme, it would be all a muddle. That's the problem with (a) moving around, and (b) having grown up in an area where the usual stereotypical aspects of fall (ie colorful leaves) don't correspond with the actual aspects of fall (dead brown things).

I _am_ looking forward to being able to wear warm clothes again. :)

Yankee, Transferred said...

I love this meme. You are too wonderful.

Piece of Work said...

I guess I'm the only dud here that grieves the end of summer. Yes, it is slightly exciting when the air starts to smell like football, or Halloween, but really, the rest of it? Ick. How I loathe sweaters and winter shoes! I suppose it's lucky for me that now I live in California, so we get a longer summer--but now I don't get that crisp fall smell either.
Though I admit, reading your meme made me slightly (slightly!) nostalgic for an east coast autumn.

jo(e) said...

Dr. K: I loved your list. I've never even tasted peach pie. I imagine that you do make great pie, but really, there is no way that your pie crust is better than my Mom's.

I can totally picture you playing with BB guns. My sons went through a paintball phase -- we bought bales of hay and set up a course out back -- and I have to admit, it was really fun.

jo(e) said...

Friday Mom: You need to come visit me in October. Fall is incredibly beautiful here.

Usually the second weekend in October, I go to the mountains for a long weekend with a bunch of women friends. We usually manage to hit the peak foliage. Even when it rains, it's gorgeous.

reverendmother said...

Ahhhh... thank you for this.

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

I agree that many of my answers would be the same too, so I will have to change the rules a little--maybe I will come back and do that. LOL! Yours are always so cool and creative and on the mark! and true (yes, I know that's redundant.)

What Now? said...

Wait, now what are you supposed to do with the ginger? Smell it? Eat it?

One of the things that I love about fall is the colors on my morning commute; I think my first year here, having just moved from a place that doesn't get quite so much fall, I went a little bit crazy with all the color.

jo(e) said...

What Now? I eat tablets of ginger to help with motion sickness. (This was my big discovery of the summer.)

I've lived here my whole life and I still going a little crazy with all the fall colour.

Anonymous said...

Okay, jo(e), I'm so depressed now, reading this, and it's ALL YOUR FAULT. I want fall! I want fall! Sure, it's nice to snicker at the southerners who freak out at the prospect of frost, and yeah, walking aroud in shirt-sleeves in October's kind of neat - but I want my fall, darn it! Sigh. I will go dream of New England now...

CarpeDM said...

Thanks for creating it. I really enjoyed filling it out.