Fall

I'm sitting in the living room. The fire in the wood stove is warming my face. Hot apple cider is in my mug on the table beside me. The leaves have abandoned  the trees outside, and sit in huge piles that someone has raked. Their sole purpose is to receive and bury the children who will inevitably jump into the large leaf mounds. Snowflakes even dared to drift from the sky, only to encourage the above mentioned children to make paper snow creations and tape those onto the windows in the house. The grapefruit tree that my father-in-law started from a seed, now stands in the living room after spending the summer outdoors. White mini-lights hang from the branches, adding to the warmth of the season. My tropical hibiscus tree also made the move into the house and sits by the fire to stay warm. It seems to like that, as it usually blesses us with vibrant orange flowers throughout the winter. Gourds and pumpkins, garden mums - all a testament to the beauty and the hues of this time of year - sit in flower baskets and in the garden soil. The last burst of colour before the blanket of white covers everything and we slide into winter.