Sweating Through Sweater Weather

I have been sharing all the fall things.

Cozy recipes. Fall activities. Little ways to slow down, settle in, and enjoy the season. The kind of things that make you want to light a candle, pull on a sweater, and spend an afternoon baking something with cinnamon.

Meanwhile, it is still hot as crap outside.

I’m trying to create an autumn experience, but the weather keeps suggesting a water park.

There is something deeply humbling about putting a pumpkin on your porch while sweating through your bra. Nothing says “welcome to my cozy fall home” quite like burning your hand on the front door.

But here I am. Committed.

Fall Is Currently an Indoor Activity

At this point, if we want fall, we’re going to have to manufacture it ourselves.

Turn the air down. Close the curtains. Light the candle.

Do not look at the thermostat outside. That information is between the Lord and the electric company.

I want soup simmering on the stove. I want something good baking in the oven. I want a blanket over my legs without feeling like I’m participating in a medical emergency.

Is that too much to ask?

Apparently.

My family walks into the kitchen wearing shorts and asks what’s for dinner, and I have to look them in the eye and say, “Soup.”

They look at me like I’ve lost my mind.

Listen. I cannot control the weather, but I can control this crockpot. We are having a season.

And Now Christmas Is Standing at the Door

The other problem is that I know what’s coming.

Come Monday, a whole bunch of people are going to wake up, look at their perfectly good pumpkins, and say, “Well, that’s enough of that.”

Down comes the scarecrow.

Up goes the tree.

The pumpkins haven’t even stopped sweating, and somebody’s already defrosting Mariah Carey.

Some of y’all have Christmas tubs sitting by the door right now. You’re reading this with one hand on a storage-bin lid, waiting for the socially acceptable moment to make your move.

I see you.

By Monday afternoon, you’ll have three trees decorated, garland around the doorway, and a Christmas village with better infrastructure than the town you live in.

Meanwhile, I’m still over here with a list of fall things I wanted to do.

We haven’t baked enough. We haven’t watched all the cozy movies. I haven’t had nearly enough opportunities to say, “Oh, this old thing?” about a sweater I specifically bought for the season.

Honestly, I haven’t even worn the sweater.

It’s been hanging in my closet waiting on a cold front like the rest of us.

I Would Like to Finish My Pumpkin Era

I love Christmas. I do.

I love the lights, the music, the meaning, and the way the house feels when the tree is glowing at night.

But I would like to finish a fall activity before the soundtrack changes.

I need a little more time for pumpkins and cinnamon and meals that require a spoon. A few more evenings when we pretend the blanket is necessary. Maybe one actual cool morning when I can drink my coffee outside without immediately regretting it.

I don’t think that’s unreasonable.

Fall has already had to compete with summer for custody of October. Now Christmas is showing up early with a moving truck.

Can we give the pumpkins a minute?

We’re Enjoying What We Can

Of course, with seven kids, a “cozy fall afternoon” is always going to come with a little fine print.

Somebody will spill the cider. Somebody will dislike the activity. Somebody will ask for a snack while I’m actively making a snack.

And there’s a good chance I’ll be the only person who notices the candle.

Still, I like making room for these little things.

A movie we watch together. Something warm from the oven. An easy dinner that gives us a few more minutes around the table. It doesn’t have to look like the picture I had in my head to be worth doing.

Although I would appreciate being able to open a window.

Just once.

Without letting in air that feels like someone is breathing on me.

So I’m going to keep sharing the fall things. You can save them for the next cold front, enjoy them in front of a fan, or make pumpkin muffins while your Christmas lights are going up.

There’s room for all of us.

But if you see me posting soup while you’re decorating your tree on Monday, mind your business.

I’m still trying to have October. 🍂

*** Well right after I wrote this fall called my bluff and showed up as a drizzly, cool, cloudy morning … but by lunch she was back to too warm for a fall day. I see the weather forecast has fall weather on the horizon, maybe she only needed someone to challenge her?! 😂

Are you holding on to fall a little longer, or are the Christmas tubs already out?