Soaking Up Fall

I hesitate to say fall is my favorite season, because the fact is, I'm just thrilled I get to have four seasons.  But since fall is the current one (and one I haven't experienced much of in the last several years...), I want to enjoy it to the fullest.

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The last few weekends have been full of fun fall-ish things.

Like going to a cider mill with a friend -

Isn't this phone booth great?

It was fascinating to watch how cider is made.  It was even better to drink the cider!

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Sunday drives to soak in the colors -

They seem best with coffee, friends, and a good sense of adventure.

Country drives are so relaxing.

I'm convinced I should make them a regular thing until the weather gets too bad for driving, if for no other reason than that they are such a great way to spend time chatting with students.

Last semester I hosted a lot of open-invitation things to get to know students: international meals, craft nights, etc.  I loved it, but this semester has just been different.  I found that I was needing to look for other ways to spend time with students.  Smaller things.  Things that didn't require as much planning or energy, so that I could actually really enjoy the time without feeling tired (and without eventually getting burnt out).

Outings or simple Sunday drives have worked really well, and I'm thankful.

Mostly, we stick to country roads, but we wound up in a little town at one point.  It's so full of quaint charm that I immediately wanted to plan an afternoon to wander around downtown.

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"Fall comes to NTBI"-

We had "Pumpkin Olympics" one Friday evening, which included such things as pumpkin long jumps, reverse dart board, pumpkin carving, and pumpkin toss.  I didn't compete, but I watched and drank hot cider with the best of 'em!

This is looking out from the front of the school.  I love this view.  The hospital parking lot has the prettiest trees!

This is looking out from the back(ish) of the school.  There's a park on one side of the school, and it has some pretty nice trees too.  (Or I should say "had" - most of them are on the bare side by now.  Tragically.)

Looking through these pictures makes me sigh and wish for one silly moment that fall could last forever.  But I know that when winter comes and we get our first snowfall, I'll be caught up in the magic too much to miss the last season.

So there. :)