Fall is coming!

The final notes of summer are sounding. However, since I live in Texas, it’s more like the final few notes that lead into the last triumphal march before the piece is finally done. Summer is done! No, never mind, it’s still going to be 90 degrees for a few more weeks.

But still, summer IS done and that is evidenced by the school busses I see everywhere. I remember when I was younger and I had to go to school that seeing those school busses brought tremendous heartache and heartbreak to my young soul. I hated the sight of them. To be quite honest, I still do, although for entirely different reasons (have you ever seen a school bus driving fast? No. It’s always a slow and unsteady 40 mph that is impossible and illegal to pass.)

I love the time of year that is about to come up. Fall is an utterly delicious thing in Texas. To compensate for the endless summers, we have cold fronts that make everything worthwhile. They are so wonderful to behold. If you’re at my parents’ house, a cold front makes itself known by the singing of the chimes on the front porch. If the door isn’t already shut it will proceed to slam shut on its own with the force of the wind. Speaking of that wind…cold fronts make it moan and groan around the house making the outdoors sound utterly desolate and forlorn. Usually a cold front comes in with clouds and rain on the first day and then the next day all is merry and bright outside but the weather is crisp and cool. Everyone wears boots on days like that because in Texas, if the weather is 60 degrees or less, you wear boots and scarves and hats and sweaters. We like fall apparel, okay? It doesn’t matter if it isn’t entirely cold…that’s not the point!

The end of summer signifies that fall and winter are coming and with them are holiday parties and feasting parties and hayrides and bonfires and smores if you’re so inclined to risk your fingers on a roasted marshmallow. Fall days are usually not that cold but the nights are chilly and if you happen to live ever so slightly out of the city, the stars shine with eternal warmth in the cold night sky.

Fall also means one other major thing and that is the beauty that is college football. Even if you don’t like football, which I don’t, you will love college football because it means chilly nights listening to the game, wings at Pluckers (an Austin original) and if you happen to be so lucky, sneaking into the student section at the actual stadium and cheering on the Longhorns in person. All football games should end on a high note, regardless of win or loss, if you end them at El Patio (another Austin original) which is located at the heart of Austin on The Drag (also known to outsiders as Guadalupe but who calls it that anyway?) El Patio serves the best Mexican food in the entire world and if UT happened to lose that day, there’s nothing like endless amounts of chips and salsa to lighten the mood.

This is what Fall is in Texas. This is my home, where I was born and raised, and there is nothing like it in the world. I love my Texas!