I'll let you in on a secret,  I love Autumn!   Ok, so it's not really much of a secret lol.   It's rather odd that I am such a fan of the dark/cool times of the year, and yet I end up here in Queensland... land of endless summer.  Oh I love the things that summer brings.. swims in the pool, iced tea, beautiful blue skies that can darken to thunderstorms almost as fast as you can blink.  But about one month of all that is enough for me.  Here in Queensland, that means I make it to about November... not even INTO the 'official' summer season, which begins on December 1 in Australia.   By the time Summer Solstice comes around, if it weren't for the silly season and all the wonderful family gatherings, I'd be well and truly DONE with old Sol for the year!

Autumn officially began on March 1.  I've been yearning for it since the New Year rolled in though.  I'm ready to take down the pool for the year, and wear jumpers and jeans.  I'm ready to drink coffee on the veranda in the evenings with my hunny (if we try to do that now we are confronted with the late afternoon sun glaring in our faces).  I'm ready to rug up on the couch with the kids and read stories, or for them to pile into my bed in the morning for giggles without being so hot we can't stand the idea.  

I'm ready for the REAL veggie gardening to begin (such as mine is, in pots ;) I'm ready for all those lovely things that autumn and winter bring here in Queensland.   I'm ready for soup in the crock pot weather, and baking without having to turn the air conditioner on!  I'm oh so very ready to be able to go to the park with the kids... and stay all day without wilting in the heat (ok, we'll still have to slip, slop slap though!) 

This is what Autumn is like here in Oz.  The grass is greener, the trees may get a tinge of colour... depending on where you live.  Most stay green, as many are Eucalypts and thus evergreen.  But even here in the subtropics... there's something about the air that changes.  That crispness somehow makes it's way even here, where the rest of the year the air feels heavy and soggy.   Autumn has always spoken to my soul in a way that the rest of the seasons don't touch.   And for the last 10 years that I've lived here, I've missed it so much.  But  I suppose I just hadn't looked hard enough.

***btw, This is what happens while a sleep deprived mama waits for the sick little dude that fell asleep in late arvo decide to go to bed.  I noticed a chill in the air and just followed it....