fall, o glorious fall

I grew up in a state where fall lasted a month, six weeks tops, and was not a relaxing, let's-go-out-and-enjoy-the-weather kind of time. It was more like we-need-to-get-the-crops-out-of-the-field-as-soon-as-possible-and-pray-that-no-machinery-breaks kind of time. I guess I still have that mindset, too. When I returned from Iowa after Labor Day, I had around 1600 RAW images to edit, not once, but at least three different times to get to my bride by the end of the month. Suffice it to say, I spent much of September staring at my computer screen, and Photoshop was about as social as I allowed myself to get. I had a few meltdowns about it, and inevitably called mama. "I feel like my whole month is slipping away from me and fall's going to be over and I won't have done anything fun or memorable ALL MONTH LONG." Mama knows exactly what to say to make me feel better when I'm having these come-aparts, because we're pretty much the same person. "But Libba, you're not in Iowa. You have SO much time left for fall!" She was right. Aren't mamas always, though?

So here it is, November, and things are finally becoming colorful and beautiful and I just want to hug you, Fall. Maybe I'm enjoying it more this year because of where we live. I mean, it's hard to be thinking negative thoughts when you step out onto your porch and see this:

And you're flinging the tennis ball to your dog in the field next to the house and this is your backdrop:

And how cute does our little house look with all the fall colors!?

One more from the front porch, different time of day, different colors.

Gah. Yes. This is my favorite season.