Fall in the south...lucky us

OK, minus the recent torrential seemingly never ending rain showers we've had since the great flood of September, this has been a lovely fall. Fall in the south is one of the most charming and exciting times to live down in heaven of the USA.

Three times a week I drag my dirty haired leftover smeared mascara self out of bed at about 6:00 am to head to Hollister Farms and feed the horses in the morning. You'd think, since I have been involved in equestrian activities since childhood, (read- 4am horse show departures and braiding manes with a flashlight in my mouth so we can get to the hunt on time and looking well turned-out) that I would be a morning person. Well... I'm not. I LONG to be a morning person but my body just runs itself off of this internal clock that prefers turning in at 2am and sleeping till 10. So, needless to say, I love getting to the barn in the mornings and watching the boys saunter over to the gate to greet me while the sky is still pink with fresh sunshine, but LORD, I just hope no one sees me when I'm out there because "hot mess" doesn't even describe it. I don't drink coffee so don't bother suggesting it and I have NO idea how my little VW drives itself to the barn because I an nowhere near conscious enough to get there by myself, but once I get there, the zen begins. Now back to fall in GA...

At 6:45 am, since our lovely time change, the sun shine is reaching it's little fingers through the pine trees and the morning dew on top of the metal barn roof is gathering for its morning slide down into the grass below. When I arrive, the boys greet me at the gate with expectant little nickers and the rhythmic dripping of the dew off the roof sets the rhythm for my hour there. There's still a nip in the air just chilly enough to make me look forward to warming my hands on the side of a blanketed horse and the smells of feed and hay and wet grass float across my face as I bring them in one by one to their stalls to eat breakfast. As the air warms and my breath quickens from scooping sweet smelling feed into buckets and walking the horses in, my favorite part of morning comes along to remind me why it is I am able to drag myself from between they warmth of my sleeping husband, a soft brown poodle, and a down comforter. As I listen to the boys swirl their lips in their buckets and contentedly munch their breakfast, I get to watch the sun come over the tree line. Often, just about this time, a pair of hawks become visible in the tree line next to the pasture and they sit there, feathers fluffed surveying their new day and possibly their next meal. Every once in a while, a few does or a big barn owl are still hanging out behind the barn and they see me and don't immediately make their way deeper into the woods, which makes me feel even happier to get a be a part of this morning. Between the wildlife and the horses and sun and the gusty little morning breezes, I appreciate this time of year and offer up a quick prayer thanking God for making a place like this.

Over the last few weeks, the grass has yellowed and the leaves have made the woods look bare and grey, save for an evergreen here and there, but there's something just as beautiful about this time of year as there is about the fresh greens of spring, which if you asked me in April, I would tell you is my favorite time of year. Now, as my muddy wellington boots crunch across the leaves and turn the boys out for a day in the pasture, I know that God gives us these seasons to renew our spirits with something new just as much as He does to prepare our earth for a season of dormancy. As I hop back in the car to rush off to Chem lab, I sigh as I prepare to fight the traffic between the barn and KSU and wish for a second that I could just enjoy the day with the horses and taking in the sights and sounds of what promises to be a lovely fall day, but somewhere in my thoughts, my other favorite parts of fall; football games, new jeans and boots and glasses of wine shared on cool porches make my 35 minute journey back to my more urban reality worth the trip. Getting to experience both sides of this season in one day makes me a lucky girl. I whisper another quick prayer to thank Him for the chance to do this three times a week, turn up my Sugarland cd and hope my hair gets to meet some shampoo before anyone makes eye contact with me.