No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace, as I have seen in one autumnal face.
How I love Autumn with her cool, bright days set amidst sapphire skies, and even her somber, grey days swathed in a cloud of mist. There is something about this time of year that has replaced all other seasons as my favorite. I can't put my finger on why. I love the colors and the inspirations, the sights, smells and sounds that herald autumn's arrival. I thought I'd share a list of activities I entered in my art journal about my favorite autumn activities - feel free to use some (or share some) that I can add to mine.
Autumn Pursuits
1) Keep an autumn journal. Document the changing of the season by recording the weather each day, filling it with photos or leaf pressings. Observe the animals and birds - nature offers miraculous sights in each season. Fill it with quotes about autumn and anything else you wish to record about the season.
2) Take a nature walk in a leafy area and watch as autumn gold flitters down from the sky.
3) Take a small box of watercolors or colored pencils to a quiet place where you can commune with nature and sketch or paint one autumn memory - it can be small as an acorn or as large as a landscape. Record your feelings about the process - as small as that acorn is, it contains a seed --- a potential for a huge oak tree. And did you know that acorns symbolize patience? They are the fruit of the long and hard labor of the oak tree, and a reminder that autumn is worth the wait.
4) Go to a fruit farm and pick your own apples to bake into pies or turn into caramel apples covered in chopped nuts. Cut a few apples in half and let the little ones make apple prints with paint and paper.
5) Pick your own pumpkin at a pumpkin farm. And go on that pumpkin farm field trip with your little one. Take photos.
6) Take the family to a corn maze.
7) Plant tulips and bulbs to enjoy in the spring.
8) Decorate for fall - indoors and out. Use plenty of natural decor and scented candles in gorgeous autumn colors and aromas.
9) Buy yourself at least one luxuriously warm sweater to usher in sweater weather. While you're at it, pick out warm wooly mittens and a stylish hat.
10) Get your hair cut and colored - feeling good about yourself enhances your enjoyment of the season.
11) Heat up the fireplace on the first cold day of autumn and make yourself a cup of hot tea or hot chocolate to enjoy by the fireside.
12) Make a pot of delicious soup to enjoy on a cold night.
13) Curl up on the couch with a good mystery or a favorite book/magazine/movie in the warmest of blankets.
14) Plan an autumn tea for 2 or 3 dear friends. Keep it simple - a few savory dishes and some delicious treats to share around a welcoming pot of tea and a few hours of cherished conversation.
I will leave you with some more autumnal images to aid you in dreaming of autumn's arrival...



