Arizona Fall

Fall in Phoenix is like Springtime in other cities. We start to plant things and the air is crisp and rains are cooling. We don't have the change of leaves like Fall welcomes you in other places. The trade off is being able to plant things in pots like petunia, pansy, geranium, snap-dragon, zinnia and marigold.

I found some single potted sunflowers at the grocery store a couple weeks ago. I decided to give the raised flower bed I inherited with the house,  some purpose in the yard. But the sunflowers seem to be struggling there. I guess they know they are not in Kansas anymore. I would add some mums but I am not certain they would do much better there. I credit the ill-tended garden bed for an not welcoming my plantings. Even I don't like to go to bed in an unmade bed. I suppose I should make the soil more inviting.

The nights are the best part of our Fall. The air is cool so you can leave your windows open with less fear of creepy things crawling in the screens at night. It just smells so cool and it is refreshing to air out the house after stifling summer heat. It rarely gets under 50 degrees right now so you can still wear shorts if you are not inclined to box up the summer wardrobe.

Fall is my favorite season. I like football games, sweatshirts and sweaters, and bonfires. I miss pumpkin patches and corn mazes, morning frost,  and hay rides.  I don't miss raking, wet leaves, or unexpected snow.

I'm happy to feel the weight of blankets I abandoned in the 100 degree heat. I'm starting to bake again and can't wait for chili and stew to overflow my crock pot. Can you smell apple pie and fresh baked bread?

I few weeks ago on a trip to Northern AZ, I saw cottonwood trees turning gold. When I saw a clump of them it reminded me of other places I have experienced Fall where hillsides and skylines offered watercolor kaleidoscopes of red, yellow, gold, and brown in the distance. I got so excited I had to find my camera to take a photo- but the clump of autumn opportunity was gone before I could focus my lens.

The evening sky is often a painted canvas of red, pink or orange sunsets and some of the cacti yellows and red rocks offer the backdrops we are longing to see. So God's artistic hand finds another place to led color from his Autumn palate to a desert waking from a sort of summer heat solstice.