Fall is coming, and it’s not far away. You can feel it, hear it, almost smell it. Mild days followed by cold nights make for comfortable sleeping. Patches of colored leaves are beginning to appear. Rain clouds have taken on a steely gun-metal gray color and a thick blanket of fog can be seen clinging low over our river gorge some mornings.

The new school year hasn’t begun yet (our daughter-in-law in Florida is already back in the classroom) but there are definite signs that the district is preparing to receive all those happy faces eager to learn, and even those who aren’t so excited to be back. Teachers and staff are returning to their classrooms in anticipation. Last Friday was the opening football game for our local high school, and as I sit here at my desk with the sliding door open I can hear the drum cadence of the marching band practicing on the school grounds nearby. Back-to-school supplies have been overflowing the store shelves for weeks.

Driving home from work I noticed a nearby apple orchard will open this coming weekend. I’ve already received my email reminder that pumpkin spice coffee is available for a limited time only. Mmmmmm!

My brother’s birthday was this week and my baby sister’s is next week. That always meant school was starting soon and, with it, all that goes with the fall season.

I love fall! It’s not so hot and sticky, but is still comfortable before the snow starts to fly. I love the look and smell of the colored leaves, the crunch of them under my feet. Before you know it, the deer that pass through our yard will change their coats from a reddish hue to a heavy dark brown.

My children and I always enjoyed the fresh apple cider and donut holes at the farmers’ market. What a treat after picking out the best pumpkins to carve into jack-o-lanterns and walking through their haunted house. Fall golf is some of the best at our beautiful course, the lack of biting bugs mixed with the bright leaves glowing gem-like in the sun make for a perfect afternoon.

And don’t forget Halloween’s just around the corner. If you buy your trick-or-treat candy now you’ll still have time to buy more after you eat it all before the big night.

The following poem appeared in the 2016 Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets calendar.

Autumn Soup
by Jane Yunker

Fresh pressed uniforms
Shiny Mary Janes
Clean spiral notebooks
Frosted window panes

Smooth orange pumpkins
Apples, red and green
Bright leaves drifing
Slowly from the trees

Cinnamon and nutmeg
Glazed donut holes
Cider and hot chocolate
Warm our chilly bones

Crisp brown cornstalks
A ghost’s whispered flight
Clouds gray and heavy
Mischief’s out tonight

Perhaps a horse-drawn hayride
Or haunted mansion scare
Trick or treat, smell my feet
A spider in your hair!