(fall 2008, on the banks of the Huron River)

Y’all were all so sweet not to correct me when I talked about celebrating the autumnal equinox on Saturday. No one pointed out that, in fact, Saturday was the last day of summer, not the first day of fall. I usually double-check my calendars for the beginning of season dates, but when Little Buddha started talking several days ago about the first day of fall coming, I made the assumption that he had double-checked. He is the most detail-minded of the four of us, after all. But he didn’t, and I didn’t, and so we celebrated fall before it had actually started.

That night, as the boys were getting ready for bed, My Old Man happened to be looking at the calendar and noticed that fall started on Sunday, not Saturday. He mentioned it to Tiny Dancer, who promptly burst into tears! Poor little boo. It really bothered him – he had been so excited about the start of our favorite season, and had happily celebrated all day, and it felt bad and weird to him to know that it wasn’t true. I told him that, to us, it looked like fall, smelled like fall, and tasted like fall, so for us, it was fall! That didn’t totally sway him.

As for me, I feel like we just got a bonus day of our favorite season. And now fall is here for real, y’all, and I’m thrilled. Time for trips to the cider mill, watching postseason baseball (Go Tigers!), picking raspberries, cuddling under blankets, having a bonfire, playing in leaf piles, FALL KNITTING, and, of course, baking (and eating) vegan chocolate chip pumpkin muffins. What’s not to love? What’s your favorite part about fall?

At any rate, now I can finally say it: Happy Fall FOR REAL, y’all!