Mums' the word...

Standing on the sidewalk in front of my house, 

on the street where I live.

"Fall...The time when everything bursts with its last beauty,

as if nature had been saving up all year 

for the grand finale." - Lauren DeStefano

While Fall is ostensibly known as an ending, for me, this fall has heralded a new beginning. Late in the summer, the dean of the history department at my former workplace called me, relentlessly courted me and asked me to return to teaching. To make a long story short, I said yes. I've missed practicing my calling and missed my students. And I'm woman enough to freely admit that it's nice, and oh so satisfying to my ego to be missed, needed, wanted, called and relentlessly courted ;-}

So, for the last few weeks, four days a week, every morning, I grab my professor's goody bag, slip on a pair of 4+ inch wedges (or ankle boots), slide into my convertible, press play on my iPod and head to work. When I last taught, I drove the family SUV to and fro. Now I tool around in my beloved convertible.

View from my dashboard

Driving a convertible in the fall provides all kinds of incredible, majestic views to the world: sun on my face, wind whipping through my hair, the bluer than blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. Coming home from the university, I often find myself exiting the highway at whim. Leaving behind the gray listless concrete express lanes to follow wherever the sunlight leads me. Finding my way home by meandering down local roads, streets and lanes - the only prerequsite being that the road I travel is lined with trees. The better to enjoy the polychromatic fall leaves. The other day, while I was meandering down a road close to home, I saw a grocery store I've passed a thousand times without a second glance. But on this day the store had HUGE gorgeous potted fall Mums out front - yeah, you know I had to stop. Big as bushes planted in the ground, the Mums were on sale - 70% off AND fantabulous? SOLD X 2! It took two strapping gents to wrestle those floral monsters into the back seat of my EOS. 

And it was all kind of wonderful to drive home with a garden in my backseat. Don't know how mom and I did it, but we managed to drag the mums out of the car and onto our front door stoop - mischief managed. 

Bonjour Fall ;-}

Yes, Winter and what she brings - cold, sleet, snow, slush, gray skies, the top up - is in the near future. But for now, Mums' the word.

Vivre! Rire! Aimer!

Temple