Perfect.

Today is the perfect New England fall day. Seriously, it is. The sky is just the right shade of light gray to make the leaves pop, and it has acquired that nip in the air that startles you when you first head out the door, but then you warm up as soon as you start walking.

It even smells like fall. It's a combination of the sweet and warm smell of fallen leaves, wood smoke, and the sharp, spikey smell of the imminent snow storm.

Happy Halloween!!

It's days like this where I fall in love with New England all over again. I am proud to proclaim that I am one of those people who complains about California because "It doesn't have any seasons". Oh yeah, I'm one of those people. But who could blame me?

This is actually my favorite time of year. It's when the days are brisk and you feeel so warm afer coming inside. I miss being able to go outside without a jacket, but at least the chilliness means that the leaves will erupt in flame and fall just so I can scuff my feet through them and make that "kssh kssh kssh" sound when I walk. After Halloween, it's only a few weeks until Thanksgiving (and my Mom's turkey), then a few more weeks and it's Winter break, which means Christmas and my birthday.

After Christmas, though, the weather gets boring. Snow isn't magical after Christmas, it's just white and slushy and freakin' cold when it gets in your shoe. The world is stuck in black and white from January through most of March. And then everything is brown and muddy. But then, eventually in April, you see the tiny impossible green buds of new leaves poke out of the tips of branches and the whole cycle resets again. How could I live anywhere else? Well, I could live somewhere that still had all of the seasons but skipped March. I hate that month.