megdanielle

Oh, sweet Fall! How we’ve patiently awaited your cooler temperatures, your color palate of oranges and reds, your pumpkin patches, leaves to play in, cider & donuts. For children, you are a new beginning, never-been-used pencils, and fresh-faced teachers. For parents, a gentle reprieve from the summer madness, hustle & bustle. For my family, you are God’s loving reminder to appreciate the moments, to go for walks hand-in-hand, and to sip pumpkin spice lattes while laughing about everything and nothing at all.

Any weatherman would tell you that there’s a change in the air during this season but isn’t it oh-so-much-more than cooled temperatures and crisp breezes? It’s a season of preparation for everything around us to get a little bit tougher for the next few months. But Fall isn’t signaled by a battening down of hatches, no. Rather it begins with the most beautiful array of colors that the forests have ever seen. It’s signaled by rosy cheeks and the smell of crinkling leaves underfoot. It’s moves all of the senses in a rush of sensations. Sight, touch, sound, smell, and taste.

Mmm, the taste of Fall! Marketers have been gleefully awaiting the drop of temperature to display their pumpkin-flavored everythings: lattes, cookies, breads, cupcakes, pancakes & pies. And we, the consumers, gladly eat it up. The cider mills open their big red doors and we rush to stand in line for our cider & donuts. And I am not ashamed. Today, in fact, I stood in line at Robinette’s Apple Haus with a slew of anxious others. We shuffled to the front counter in glee, hoping that our donuts would still be piping hot. When I approached the counter, I pointed to a tray of donuts and said “I’ll take 2 dozen of the sugar & cinnamon, please.”

Before you judge, 1) these donuts are so good that I would indeed be tempted to buy 2 dozen for Freddy & me but more importantly, 2) I was buying for Freddy’s staff who was up bright and early to cater to the Art Prize crowd that has overtaken Grand Rapids.

The girl behind the counter pointed to the donuts I had just referenced and said, “Those are pumpkin spice donuts. Did you want those or the sugar & cinnamon? We have more of the sugar & cinnamon if you’d like.”

Ha, of course they were pumpkin spice donuts! What was I thinking…

I assured her that I wanted the cinnamon & sugar donuts and she turned to the back to bring back (what else but) piping hot donuts, fresh off the line! *GLEE*

She boxed them up and sent me on my way to pick up a gallon of cider. I barely made it a mile off the orchard when I took my first bite. If heaven has a taste, it tastes like Robinette’s cinnamon & sugar donuts. The bite was perfect! The doughnut resisted for a crisp second before giving way to the most delicate, melt-in-your-mouth inside imaginable. The perfect mix of cinnamon & sugar danced on my tongue. This is bliss, I thought.

And so begins this year’s love affair with Fall. On the eve of its arrival, I have already donned my big sweater and riding boots, sipped cider & tasted the sweetness of a Robinette’s doughnut. I started the morning with a walk with my two boys, one full of fur and frenzy and the other full of love and hand-holding. And it is perfect.

Thank you, Lord, for giving Michigan a fall season. For giving us a natural reminder to appreciate the moments and take in the sensations you have provided. You are so good.