Fall Week: Memories

Summer is winding down. The ice cream trucks are becoming few and far between. The sun leaves the air warm for a while, but once it goes down the air becomes cool. Every night doesn't smell like barbeque anymore, the hot dogs and corn of summer have gone away. It now smells like new pencils and paper.

The end of summer is always bittersweet. By September 1st I'm ready to leave my short shorts behind and cover my legs for the winter. I'm ready to be cold outside and not inside because the AC is on too high (still something I consider a summer crime). I'm ready to drink hot beverages without sweating. I'm ready for holiday decorating, holiday parties and all the perks that come with the holiday season.

My sister, my mom, my dad and myself.
End of the summer swimming at
 Kah-Nee-Tah Indian
Reservation.

Fall also brings back memories of school. Not just the blissful faux-adulthood of college, but of high school, middle school and even elementary school, however the memories are becoming few and far between these days. Fall always brought a budding social life, new challenges and, even better, new things. The smell of new text books, the noisy buzz of classrooms, the crumpling of paper and exchanging of favorite reading material.

The days of Fall I miss start back when I was little. Back when my sister and I went to the same school. Holcomb Elementary, which was located literally around the bend from our house yet we never walked to school, held my whole world. Each fall came the early hours, the grumpy breakfasts and the ever loved waiting for the school bus. 

My sister and I with our chickens.
Spring brought chicks, fall brought fresh eggs!

Each morning my sister and I would stand at the front corner of the porch which overlooked our road. We could see the bus as it stopped to turn onto our street. In this moment we would run out the gate and line up at the road. My mom always watched from the front door, usually hiding enough to not be seen because it was early and "she didn't have her eyebrows on." These morning are my favorite early memory. In my memories, it was chilly, foggy even. We could see our breath on the air. On the mornings closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas, we would sing. Do you remember the old Fred Meyer commercials? Home again for the holidays, my favorite time of year, yes, it's so nice to come home. My sister and I would spend the few minutes standing together on the porch to sing that song. Fall, to me, are these mornings.

My sister, me and my Grandma (Always in her best furs)

What fall memories do you have?