The Pumpkin Is Up—Fall Can Start Now

At 8 a.m. this morning, I poured my coffee and headed out to the little seating area on our front porch. I was in the shade with visions of sitting there enjoying a peaceful September morning.

Nope. That lasted about three minutes. It was already hot. And humid. And generally unpleasant enough that I picked up my coffee and retreated back into the house. Even the dogs aren't getting their morning walk because apparently summer has decided it lives here now.

Humble brag: one of the BIG reasons we moved back to San Diego almost 20 years ago was to escape the heat and humidity of Midwest summers. You know, San Diego, land of endless sunny-and-70. I did my time. I left. I thought we had an understanding.

Apparently, this particular summer did not get the memo. But here's the thing. There's a pumpkin hanging on my front door, so clearly one of us thinks fall is coming.

I'm putting my money on the pumpkin.

Apparently, This Is Fall Decorating Now

That metal pumpkin hung on the door is representative of how I decorate for fall these days. I have two wicker pumpkins that sit outside our front gate, a few fall-colored florals that find a home on the dining room and kitchen tables, with a few small pumpkins scattered about for good measure. That’s it.

It wasn't always this way. When my girls were little, Halloween was a production around our house. More decorations, more excitement, more stuff. I loved doing it then because holidays with kids are different. Their excitement becomes your excitement, and turning the house into something magical is part of the fun. But the kidlets grew up and seasonal decorating got simpler.

Confession: I don't miss that stuff much.

Somewhere along the way, I learned I could acknowledge a season without redecorating the entire house for it. Maybe that's not less enthusiasm for the season, it's just decorating for the season of life I'm in now.

Apparently, I Didn't Get That Gene

My mother would probably laugh at my current version of seasonal decorating. She loved changing things up for every season, and she kept right on doing it long after the little kid season of life.

Fall meant leaves scattered across tabletops, clings on the glass of the front door, fall-colored arrangements and decorations everywhere. Then came Christmas. Valentine's Day. Easter. Spring. Whatever the season or holiday, Mom was ready for it and loved every minute of it. Apparently, that particular decorating gene skipped a generation.

What didn't skip a generation was her frugality. Mom wasn't running out every year to buy the newest seasonal decor. I remember Valentine hearts on our front windows that had been around since I was little. After every holiday, everything was carefully packed away until it was time to bring it out again the following year. She might pick up something new from a clearance aisle once the holiday was over, but buying all-new decorations every year because the trends had changed? That wasn't happening. She took care of what she had and reused it year after year. THAT gene I got.

Even my Christmas decorating has changed over the years. If it's just Freddy and me, I keep things simple and sparse. But if I know the kids and grandkids are coming? Out comes more of the good stuff. More decorations, little touches and more of the Christmas I remember creating when our girls were young. And I love every bit of it. Seeing that joy and wonder through little eyes again makes pulling out the extra decorations so worth it.

Your Season, Your Rules

It isn't really about how much, or how little, we decorate. It's about knowing what makes a season feel special to us, in the life we're living right now. That's really the point. Our homes aren't static because our lives aren't static.

If pulling out boxes of pumpkins, leaves and Halloween decorations every fall makes you happy, pull out boxes. Scatter leaves. Put clings on windows. My mother would approve.

If one pumpkin on the front door makes you feel like you've adequately acknowledged the arrival of fall, then you do you.

As for me, I'm going to continue trying to will fall into existence from inside my air-conditioned house.

I've hung the pumpkin.

I've done my part.

Mother Nature, you're up.

Now, what will you do next to love where you live?

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