Is it just me or are we shooting toward the end of October like a Ferrari shooting toward the Mexican border in a high-speed car chase?

I sit by my Mama’s fireplace this Sunday morning, grasp my cinnamon mocha tightly between cold fingers and wonder where the summer and the month of September went.

Somewhere in the midst of the fog and the chaos, I lost track of time. Somewhere in all of the bouncing and the burping and the bellyaches, I got stuck in August.

I woke up quite abrubtly the other day, when my four-year-old said that she had seen “Daddy’s truck”, and I realized that I did not even know what my husband’s truck looked or sounded like. He bought it two days after I gave birth to my son, and that was six weeks ago. I knew that it was white and I thought it might be a GMC. But even though I had ridden in it a few times, I could not tell you what it looked like.

Yeah.

Pretty sure I’d have lost track of the season that I’m in, altogether, had I not gotten outside of these four walls the little bit that I did.

Thank heavens I managed to get out at least a little, in the past six weeks. I’ve seen enough to know that it is fall and that it is beautiful and perfect. I’ve managed to hang with a few friends and enjoy a few cook-outs. To watch a few sunsets and take a few drives with my family. I’ve managed to throw a few stones in the river and take a few pictures.

And I am happy about that.

I’m happy that somewhere in all the craziness, I managed to capture a little bit of the beauty that is Autumn.

I’m also happy that I live in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

For real. I heart Colorado.

And it’s never more beautiful than in the fall.

I would lay in its golden branches and drink from its azure skies, all the days of my life.

And I would stay in October forever, if I could.

But life is moving rapidly and nothing lasts forever. Even this season, as beautiful as it is. The most I can do is to enjoy it while I have it.

And so I have and so I will.

I may have gotten stuck in August for a minute and I may have missed parts of September, but I am NOT going to miss October. I will enjoy every fleeting second of this month, if I have to reach out and grab a tree branch as it whizzes by.

I will continue to walk and to breathe its fresh blue air, if I have to strap a crying baby to my back, to do it.

It is after all, my favorite time of year.

And so. I am going to squeeze every last drop of goodness out of it, before it turns into my least favorite-crispy and cold. And freezing.

AMEN.