I always rush the season when it comes to fall. There’s no season as beautiful as far as I’m concerned.  We got a little taste this weekend in Mississippi and it was stupendous.

So today I declared it National Pre-fall Day and  put up my pumpkin tree which I’ve done for the past 20 years.

I’ll leave it up past Thanksgiving when it’s time to put up the Christmas trees.  (It’s smaller this year than usual because all my big trees are stuffed into a closet, still dressed in their Christmas finery.   They look so good. I didn’t have the energy to undress them.)

Let’s call this the Charlie Brown Halloween Tree.

I always put it up in my kitchen window and turn on the orange pumpkin colored  lights at dusk.  I just overheard a woman walking by.  The woman said, “Look Stan, that crazy woman already has her Christmas tree up. Must be a hippy or something.”

I wanted to go charging out the door and clarify that it’s a FALL PUMPKIN TREE, you idiot.  But then, they would KNOW I’m crazy.  So I quietly bask in the faintly orange glow and dream of a fire in the fireplace and chestnuts roasting on an open fire.  Of course, I’ve never had a chestnut and probably never will in this lifetime. But it’s a nice thought.

Bottom line, all this fanfare portends the end of  the sweltering Mississippi heat, frizzy hair and melted makeup on my blouse.  Bring on the fall….