The weather has started shifting from the 80 degree days we've been having here in Wyoming to cooler temps.  The last few mornings have reminded me that we actually live in an alpine climate when I went to go let my chickens out of their coop.  The sprinkler system spray had frozen on the grass making strange crunching noises and leaving a path of broken ice.  This morning I was helping my husband install a new fence and gate to keep the chickens in their run and the ice was still in the grass until well after lunch.  Which made walking up the steps to the back door especially interesting.  I adore fall.  I love all the things surrounding fall.  The leaves in the front yard and the pumpkin patch trips, apple cider, donuts, hayrides, fires in the fireplace, fall sunshine through brightly colored leaves, just all the things! 

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This morning I made cheeseburger soup at my husband's request.  It's a warm, comforting, and thick soup that hits all those places in our souls of comfort and cozy.  Dipping bread in our soup and listening to my girls tell stories and giggle over their meal warmed me completely.  What a blessing these cozy fall days are.  As a photographer, fall usually doesn't lend that to us.   Usually, it makes us fall over ourselves in the chaos of a fleeting season and trying to get as many clients in as possible.  Especially here in Wyoming where the fall is extra short.  We've already had snow in the first week of September.  Thankfully, that didn't kill our leaves off like it usually does.  We were blessed with fall a month later! 

I am looking forward to our last bit of fall here in October with a trip to a pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, and a Halloween session to showcase the costumes my oldest daughter made for her sisters with my mother-in-law's help.  This has been a weird year with COVID-19 changing our entire lives but we still are trying to keep the things we love about fall in our schedules.  Our halloween plans might look a little different with homemade chili, cornbread, candy buckets from my mom, a Harry Potter marathon, and hot apple cider instead of Trick or Treating as long.  But it will still be memorable despite the crazy world we live in.  Every attempt will be made to do Trick or Treating but the uncertainty of 2020 might change everything at the drop of a hat so a plan B had to be formulated.

As a photographer who is usually overwhelmed in the fall, I am soaking up the season curled up with my family between sessions and meetings with clients.  This year, I was strict on my schedule and I am so grateful I have been.  I struggle with burnout towards the end of the month and this year, I sit and edit and smile at my client's beautiful faces without the feeling that I am overwhelemed and failing as a human being.  Balanced.  And grateful for my clients who trust me and for my family soaking up all of the things of fall.  Up next, halloween cookies...