Friday, October 2, 2009

Fall in AZ


I have loved fall my entire life. It was always my favorite season. Mainly because of the fall clothes. I love jackets and boots and sweaters and hats.
Alas. Now my life revolves around pools and flip-flops and shorts.
Every year my heart yearns for fall. A real fall. But after fourteen years in Arizona, I have adjusted somewhat. Here's a tribute to AZ fall:

You Know It's Fall in Arizona When . . .
1. Your A/C only kicks on in the afternoon.
2. All your neighbors start cutting their lawns really short and spreading them with steer manure (for those of you from the North, we plant winter grass here as well as summer grass).
3. Home Depot begins stocking geraniums and petunias.
4. Your kids grab a blanket because it's 72 degrees in the house and they're "cold."
5. You dig your 2 pairs of long pants out of the back of the closet.
6. The pool dips below 82 degrees and no one really wants to be in it anyway.
7. Your kids will actually go outside and play for a while without begging for popsicles and water.
8. The humidity level drops back to bearable levels.
9. Steve the weatherman indicates that we may have seen our last 100-degree day this year.
10. The news informs you that the colors are changing on the Rim.
11. Family members call and ask you what the temperature still is down there and you reply excitedly, "It's only supposed to hit 90 today!" And your excitement is real.
12. When you open the front door early in the morning and you can actually feel cooler air coming in from outside, not a furnace blast.
13. The missionaries start wearing their suit coats again.
14. Kids want to wear tennis shoes every day, not just the days they have PE.
15. The water cooler doesn't have to be changed every 3 days.
16. You can take a walk at night without bringing a water bottle.
17. Water-N-Ice shortens its hours due to decreased ice cream sales.
18. Fake fall foliage and pumpkins appear in the stores and homes (you can't buy real--it's still too hot).
19. Schools no longer cancel recess due to heat warnings.
20. You can start wondering, "When will be the first night we can sleep with the windows open?" Oh! That was last night!

Welcome, Fall!

7 comments:

  1. Well, it's still fall, right?...Just a different sort of fall. Entirely different!

    But change is change, and these changes have to feel good after a long, hot summer...especially one of being pregnant!

    =)

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  2. Oh...I loved it... Last night, my window open. I woke up chilly and snuggled down deeper. It really doesn't get any better than that. You described it well. This is our reminder of why we live here. We've got 6-8 months of good times ahead!!

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  3. I love that photo, such gorgeous colors! Your top 20 list was right on target, I am so ready for our Arizona Fall! Saw Christmas decorations in the store last week-when in was still 106, and it was just wrong!

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  4. Fall is great everywhere, it seems. What a relief when weather finally cools off.

    Can't believe you have barely over a month left. The anticipation is gaining serious momentum for me.

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  6. Oh, I loved your reading your AZ fall list! I love Utah Autumn, but I kind of miss the excitement of Arizona cooling down too!

    PS: The deleted comment above was me. Brittany got on gmail on my computer so when I commented it showed up as Brittany. But I didn't want you to get confused. :)

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  7. It sounds heavenly. Especially in late November when we're trudging through snow and you are enjoying 80 degree weather.

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