I think fall is my second-favorite season of the year, but maybe not for the reason you’d think.
Now, Princess would argue that it’s not officially fall yet, but once school is back in session and football games are on the television, it’s close enough for me.
For you, fall might mean pumpkin spice flavors are back. Crisp weather mornings are on the horizon. Leaves will start to change colors. Apple cider and bonfires and cozy sweaters.
Don’t get me wrong. I love all those things. (Well, except for pumpkin in my coffee since I’m team mocha year round.)
Call me a nerd, but my favorite thing about this season might be the sense of a fresh beginning that the school year evokes. Because it’s never too late to learn.
?Back in the day–a long, long time ago–fall meant a new school year. New classes. New teachers. New things to learn. A new box of crayons or colored pencils or pens. Blank, empty notebooks to fill. New friends to make. New goals to achieve and milestones to pass. And a reset in the gradebook where the past didn’t count and I got a new starting line.
My kids are all past that school stage and the grandson is still too young, but my husband is still a teacher and football coach so our family calendar has filled up fast with all sorts of activities.
While he’s focused on schedules and lesson plans, you’ll find me browsing the school supply aisles for cute notebooks, restocking my pen supply, and thinking about what I’m going to learn this season.
It’s like the new semester of school is starting and it’s time to get back to work. What am I going to learn in the next few months before the Christmas break? What classes am I going to take or what goals am I going to pursue?
?Personally, I’ve got a list and it’s divided by “subject.”
Bible class: My word of the year was “Abide” and this fall I’ve got a backlog of podcasts and a stack of non-fiction books to take me deeper. The new Bible I bought to start the year is getting margins filled with notes and I absolutely LOVE the evidence of what God’s teaching me.
Physical Education: Can we say treadmill or “walking pad” while listening to a podcast or reading a book? I need more steps for the sake of my heart, blood pressure, cholesterol, and the general status of my waistline. But since I hate exercise, I have to trick myself into doing it via multi-tasking.
Home Economics/Family: On the family side of life, the youngest is getting married in a month so there’s that planning and traveling to consider. Along with finding a mother-of-the-groom dress that fits and won’t look out of place with the rest of the wedding party in photos.
Creative Writing: My favorite subject, probably behind “Reading.” I’ve got two books (a prequel novella plus a full-length novel) sitting with my editor, so it’s time to dive into the next story in the series. My goal is to have it written before the end of the year.
Business (a.k.a. Math): This is the necessary evil side of my writing because it has to do with websites and advertising and promotions and budgets and launch strategy. My master spreadsheets are currently a mess and need cleaning up along with taking a refresher course/researching the changes Facebook recently made that affect how I find new readers on that platform.
By the time Winter rolls around, I hope to have a streamlined business plan and waistline, a new daughter-in-law, deeper faith, and another story in the pipeline to send your way.
And I’ve got less than four months to get it done!
What about you? What subjects are you tackling this fall? What was your favorite school supply to put in your backpack or locker? Or what’s your favorite thing about fall?
