Autumn in Chicago: guest post by Paiges [of] Books

I love Chicago.

I love autumn.

I love the real people I know who blog.

So I combined all of these things to create a lovely series of real, Chicago, falltime celebration happiness!

My treat for you today comes from Paige. She is a good friend, one of those women you can't help but laugh and smile and let loose around. I love all of her ideas, this post included ...

Autumn has been and always will be my favorite season. It is a season of trust. The trees let go of their leaves and prepare for winter, trusting that they will survive the cold and be renewed come springtime. Autumn in the country is grand, with its brilliant palette of colors fashioning the trees between September and November. I used to believe that during the harvest months the men were drawn to the field just as Ulysses’ men were drawn to the sirens. They are gone sun up to sun down, and sometimes later. Shelling corn and beans is a tireless job. When I was younger it was always a treat to take lunch to my grandfather in his John Deere combine, and even at the age of twenty-four I still hope he will offer to let me ride with him for a while through the field, following the rows of corn as if we were carefully cutting with scissors along the lines of our artwork. The dry corn is my grandfather’s masterpiece, each year a different piece of work, each with its own difficulties. Autumn in the city took some getting used to. I could no longer keep track of the passing days by the disappearing fields of dry corn. The chill in the air catches my attention and makes me take hold of my sweaters, the sun sets earlier and my commute home from work slowly grows darker. The harvest ales and pumpkin flavored everything celebrate the change in season. Instead of hearing flip-flops I will soon hear crunching leaves. I will have to remember to grab a jacket, and scarves will once again become my favorite accessory. I love the college football games, the small town parades, the marching bands, the bon-fires, the caramel apples, the haunted hayrides, and the anticipation of Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday). One of my favorite autumn traditions is taking a walk with a dear friend from college. This year will mark our fifth Halloween walk – we first would walk around our college town photographing the changing trees, finding our favorite homes, and kicking through piles of leaves. Now we are miles apart, but we still make an effort to grab our phones and cameras and take a walk while catching up. I can’t wait to see what photos we’ll end up with this fall! I definitely encourage you to take a late afternoon walk and see how the autumn sunset makes everything gold.