Autumn means a lot of things to different people. In most cases, it’s a time for cooler weather, warm nights cuddling with cider, and all things Pumpkin Spice.

This is true for me as well, but there are a few other “annual rituals” that come with the shorter days and longer nights in my little corner of the ‘verse.

Autumnal Equinox: I like to celebrate this in my own little fashion. That means breaking out the colorful scarves, and mulling cider for hours so that the house smells divine! Then a few fall time crafts to really bring everyone together for an evening. It’s a time for collecting thoughts and remembering to be thankful for the blessings you have, and about bringing the warmth of the summer’s end inward so that your home stays bright and happy all winter long.

Halloween: My annual dread of trick or treating is expressed quietly and usually somewhere under the surface. I’ve been taking my sister trick or treating at the mall for years now, because it’s more bearable than wandering around neighborhoods for hours on end with her. Costumes are a delight, and I actually enjoy most of the revelry that goes along with this spirited happening, but I just really can’t get on board with the tot-ing idea. Never have, I doubt I ever will.

NaNoWriMo: If Halloween is the marker for real fall festivities, then NaNoWriMo is the big event that steals my Novembers! Now that we’re hosting Thanksgiving at my house for the family (more on that as we begin our proper planning), I’ll have to really make sure to dedicate time early on to getting ahead of my word count curve so I can enjoy the holiday later in the month without the added pressures of a 50k word novel in 30 days! If you’re doing National Novel Writing Month this year, let me know and we can cheer each other on! It’s always more fun to do it with a friend!

Thanksgiving: Growing up Thanksgiving meant going to my grandparents’ house, lots of pumpkin pie and family, and then Christmas Present Season officially began! As children, we would receive our Christmas gifts from my mom’s parents on Thanksgiving so that our grandmother would be able to enjoy our opening them. It was a tradition that we looked forward to every year. After my grandfather died (on Thanksgiving that year, no less) that tradition died off as well, but in the last couple years, we’ve gone to great lengths to revive it, and my grandmother’s spirit of the season as well. It’s going to be a big celebration of life this year. Last year marked the 5th Anniversary of my grandfather’s passing, but this year Thanksgiving and the 27th of November are one and the same. My grandmother has requested that this year, when we all come together, that we share memories and read them aloud. I’m adding them all together in a binder so that she can take them home with her and read them as much or as little as she wants.

My Autumn is looking like madness right now with everything going in every which direction, but maybe that’s not all that different than my Summer or my Spring, so perhaps that’s just my way of life. I do know one thing though, life is never boring in this corner of the world, and it’s delightful!