There's something in October sets the gypsy blood astir...

It happens every year... I don't want summer to end. I can't stand the thought of it getting cold. I hate putting away my flip flops and getting out my socks. But then I see the first leaves begin to change color and I feel a crispness in the air. I notice the electric blue of the sky and I smell that certain eau de fall. As I was walking to yoga the other night, I was on the phone with my sister and I told her it felt like Halloween.... it was warm, the wind was blowing, the leaves were crunching under my feet. It was heaven! If only the ice and snow and frigid air didn't follow.

Spike and I went apple picking last weekend. That always helps me get in the mood for fall! We usually go to Bolton Farms, where Spike likes to tell the story of me falling down the hill and all the apples rolling with me. It was remarkable not because I fell, but because so few apples fell with me! But of course, the story has gotten embellished more and more as time goes by. Anyway, we went to Doe Farms this year, in Ayer, Massachusetts. Bolton Farms only has Macintosh, which is so boring, but Doe Farms had around eight different kinds of apples! Only four or five were in season when we went, but that was enough to make me happy! We also bought a pumpkin and some apple cider.

This weekend is Columbus Day weekend and I'm a little sad because I'm not going to Lake Champlain to close Uncle Bill and Aunt Maura's camp. It's been a tradition since I can remember, but this year my mother is in Thailand and I don't want to go alone, so the camp will have to close itself. It's always been so exciting to go up and see how cold it will be, to see the gorgeous Adirondack foliage, and to say goodbye to the Lake until next year!

However much I love going there, it will be nice to not have to do anything this weekend... anything except watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" and eat apple cake, of course!