Between Here and There

A few weeks ago, I wanted to show you all this picture.

It is a tree down the street I drive every day. The photo wasn't perfect, and I couldn't per-fect it, so I decided not to write this post.

This post about fall. Fall. The season where the leaves fall off the trees, after they change colors. (at least that is what I am teaching Sam)

This tree is one of the first to change every year. For about a week, or less, it is a brilliant shade of yellow. So beautiful. For that week, I drive past that tree twice a day and want to smile. Sometime I do, and sometimes I don't.  

Because then all the leaves fall. And just like that, it is ugly.

Every year, I am torn between whether or not I like fall. Because it means that winter is coming. Snow. Cold. Dark dreary days that never end, but never really begin because there is so little daylight.

But there is beauty, like the tree down the street. And the others that follow, turning brilliant shades of red and orange and yellow, before blowing away in a cool autumn breeze. Or, as was the case this year, wind gusts reaching 60mph.

I am trying to like fall this year, trying to remember the happy parts of winter. SNOW!!! (maybe we'll get another Snowpocalypse!) Snowmobiling, dogs frolicking in the snow, fires, french onion soup, quiet and peaceful weekends at the lake, and family time on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Then there are the stress of the holidays, the inevitable weight gain, crappy driving conditions, coats coats and more coats, wiping wet dog paws every time they go in and out, picking ice out of dog paws every time they go in and out, slush, Christmas shopping at the mall (not if I can help it!), and the longevity of winter. It is just. so. long.

So I took this picture, a perfect example of fall and winter. Brilliant colors with dark, dismal, bare branches. Is it spring yet?