thoughts and leaf love

When we moved to the desert from Virginia all those years ago I had mixed emotions. I was so excited for a new adventure, and sad to leave good friends and all those memories behind. I was also worried about missing Fall…and any semblance of those gorgeous seasons I love so much.

Luckily for me we do have Fall here in the desert. Oh it’s not as majestic and amazing as it is in other places, and it happens in December and January rather than in September and October, but it comes. And I’m so grateful for that!

When we got back from Ecuador in January the leaves were on the tail end of their golden-ness…just barely hanging on.

The golden was already crunchy underfoot, and there’s something about trudging through that crunch that I just love.

So when my big girls got home from school one of those first days we headed out to capture all that fading glory because we knew it wouldn’t last long (and we were right…it was gone a few days later).

I love that these girls of mine adore that beauty [almost] as much as I do.

And Bo sure likes it too 🙂

Our main objective was to get some birthday pictures of Claire since her b-day was coming up a few days later (I always try to take some pictures before each birthday to commemorate how each child looks in that moment of time)…some of those pictures are back HERE.

But I couldn’t resist snapping some of this girl as well:

…and sharing a few more from that beautiful Fall day.

Now those leaves are only a memory…some clung on ever so tightly for just a few more days…

…and then they dropped, all fallen, turned crunchy, and bagged up and taken away.

Those tree trunks were barren, black against a white winter sky for a few weeks,

…and suddenly they are heavy-laden with balls of bright green buds, swollen with pollen that makes us so darn sick with allergies but gives way to pop out such beautiful new green (soon I’ll have pictures of those…but for now, just imagine their effect filling up our lungs and causing all kinds of itchy eyes and sniffling…ha!) I’m supposed to be super sick with allergies right now…I am every year. But I went to the allergist early this year and started on some prescription medication so although I still feel partial effects of all those blooms, I’m holding strong so far. Max and I are the worst hit with allergies in our family and now Max is back just in time. Crossing our fingers we can handle all this gorgeousness waiting to pop out this year!

Spring is coming quick here in the desert.

3 Comments

Stunning pictures of my favourite season.

I love everything about autumn – the red, yellow & orange leaves on the trees & on the ground, the crisp air, the dark evenings, wearing jumpers – so many wonderful things.

By the way, Grace & Clair look great in those coloured jumpers, especially Grace. Red really suits her.

Hope the spring doesn't affect you & Max etc too much & that you can get something that helps.

I didn't know that about Arizona seasons! Good for you for getting out and enjoying the beauty – I'm just sitting inside giving the gray New England winter the side-eye. I probably should go out and find something nice about it.

The girls look like they are having a great time – it's a shame nobody loves that poor dog! 🙂

Autumn is my favorite season. I love it for so many reasons. I love your appreciation for nature and finding beauty no matter what time of year…even allergy season. Spring has always been my least favorite for the sole reason allergies are so terrible! I do love the blossoms and smells of spring. It's just difficult to fully enjoy it through watering, itchy, red eyes and sneezing so hard you can't see, or smell a thing. 😉 Hope your medications work well for you this spring. Hope Max does okay too. I love Arizona. I served there in the early 90's and Gilbert was just a small, growing area. I bet I wouldn't even recognize it today. It makes me so happy to know you have a temple there now. So WONDERFUL!

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