Falling for Autumn

The first yellow leaf inevitably appears at the beginning of September, and I don't care how pretty it is: I don't want to see it; don't want to hear about it. But by the 21st—when autumn is officially here and it's still 80 degrees and the mountains turn gold—I've come to accept that any vestiges of summer are a gift, and I drink it like an elixir.

Bike rides...

Picnics...

Car rides...

Ice cream...

Hikes with family...

Hikes with friends...

(... crazy friends...)

And the sunsets. Always the sunsets...

But like all beauty, it's fleeting, and I want to swallow it whole while it's here.