I live my life around the changing of the seasons.  At the end of every Winter, I think Spring is my favorite season.  At the end of every Summer, I think Fall is.  Because I live for the middle-ground.  Not too hot, not too cold.  That’s my motto.  This past Winter, after weeks of half-cold and little snow, I was desperate for Spring.  Of course it was barely a few weeks before the stifling heat of Summer rolled around again — and this Fall, as with every Fall, I’m So. Very. Ready. for the weather to change again (and boy, has it.  I had slippers and a hoodie on this morning!)

I love Fall because of the flavors; the scents.  Spring has flowers, sure, and iced tea maybe, and warm breezes.  But Fall has pumpkin and cinnamon, nutmeg and leaves.  Hot cider, roasted nuts, apple pie, hay bales, mums, the sharp cold tang of the air changing.  It’s the season where soup becomes an acceptable meal again.  Where we pull scarves and jackets out of storage and snuggle under down comforters at night.  The nights get longer and the days get shorter.  Breezes turn to chilly gusts.  It’s the King of the seasons.

It’s the easiest season to own a bookstore in, I think, because there’s something so naturally simpatico about books and Autumn.  Maybe it’s the desire to “curl up and read” with big thick socks on and an afghan over your legs, with a big steaming mug of tea by your elbow.  Maybe it’s the smell of books, so compatible with the smell of leaves and the natural decaying of things that happens every year.  Maybe it’s all in my head.  Whatever it is, I’ll stick by it.  Books and Fall are a lovely team, and I look forward to the Fall-themed events we’ll be hosting at The Wise Owl this year.

I encourage you to check out www.wiseowlbookstore.com for more information about our Contemporary Book Club discussion of Neil Gaiman’s “Coraline” on October 9th, or our 2nd Annual Dark and Stormy Night here at the store, at the end of October, where local actors will read chilling ghost tales from centuries past!

Bring it on, Fall!