Orange Pumpkins, Green Trees...

Fall has always been my favorite time of year. As a born and bred New Englander, I absolutely LOVE the things that make fall...well, Fall.

October has always been the quintessential month for all of it, too - the amazing color explosion of the leaves, the crisp coolness in the air, the harvest of apples and pumpkins, and my favorite of the holidays, Halloween. (Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and the Thanksgiving menu, but Halloween still tops my list)
Every year, I look forward to going apple and pumpkin picking, leaf-peeping all the way.

This is our first fall in Virginia, though, and that made things just a LITTLE bit different. The apples came from our own orchard, about 4 weeks earlier than in NH. The pumpkins (well, the smallest 2 came from our garden) came from the grocery store, not the quaint country Pumpkin Patch or roadside farm stand. And, the strangest part? Look at the photos! Yes, a full lawn and leafed-out trees, still just as green as can be. Add to that the fact that it was 75 degrees the day we carved Jack-O-Lanterns, and it was just about SURREAL!

We did it, though! We got all ready for Halloween with our family of creepy Jacks, our stock-pile of macabre lawn decor (for a future post) and our costume plans for ghoulish creatures...only to find out that, well, they aren't exactly fond of this holiday in these parts, so there's no Trick-Or-Treat and our slightly spooky decorations make folks more than a bit uncomfortable...

Here's my take on it: it's a couple of weeks out of the year, and if they don't share our love of Halloween, they can look straight ahead when they drive by. I'll take it all down when we are finished having fun, and replace it with Christmas lights.

(But since there's no trick-or-treating, anyone may feel free to send candy!! We will gladly accept all donations, especially chocolate! LOTS of chocolate...think of the children... ;-P )