It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Happy First Day of Autumn!

This is it for me. I absolutely adore this time of the year. October is right around the corner, and I am so ready. Bring on the pumpkins, apples, flannel shirts, harvest scented candles, and crisp, cool air! I'm trying to hold off on my first pumpkin flavored something for another couple of weeks. Typically I get started on the pumpkin craze early and have overdone it way before the season ends!

We treated ourselves to two nights in the Green Mountain State this past week, after a summer saturated with love and loss. We needed to get away and hold each other close, and no better place to do it in our eyes, than Vermont!

We spent our getaway in the southern part of the state, an area new to me. Though I spent my college years in northern Vermont and still make the trek once a year (at least) to our beloved cabin and university town, somehow in my travels I've simply whizzed past this part! Boy, was I missing a lot. It is so beautiful in the surrounding areas of Dover, Newfane, Wilmington, and Brattleboro.

Note: The Brattleboro Food Co-Op is to die for. The endless bulk aisles...

I'm so glad that Vermont has stayed a part of my life, so many years after I finished my undergraduate schooling.  The cabin is the main reason this has been possible, and we look forward to going there every holiday season (just a couple of months away! Cabin countdown begins). It was fun to explore a new area and balance our sense of familiarity and home that we have at the cabin with some adventure, tourism, and total relaxation (no cooking or cleaning!)

Living is simple (I didn't say easy!) up there in the country, and so much of the day to day involves love and respect for the outdoors. It's clear how this lifestyle shapes the value system and allows for a more natural existence in the world, and this is what really draws us in. There is a connection, a sense of belonging and meaning that we struggle to find where we live now.

Just a couple of months and we'll be back up that way, enjoying the holidays in a snow covered cabin! We can't wait!