New York State of Mind

I was lucky enough to grow up in the Hudson River Valley, arguably of the most picturesque (holly crap, I spelled that word right on the first try, I should stop here and retire) places to live.  For college, I attended Binghamton University.  The drive upstate toward school included visions of tree covered hills and rivers that lured you further and further west toward higher learning.  Next, I move to Amherst, Massachusetts, a classic New England college town nestled in the Connecticut River Valley.  If I was forced at gun point to choose which of these three places was most beautiful, I think I would eventually spit out "AMHERST" - but only after visions of crisp blue skies, multicolored hillsides and roadways littered with fallen leaves from each of these three locations flickered vividly through my mind's eye.

I layout this geographic history because it has clearly shaped the woman I am today.  Growing up in these locations has made me love fall and all the wonderful things that come with it.  I love the summer to fall transition when the nights start to get cool and you can hear rustling leaves as you lay in bed at night dreaming of what you are going to wear on the first day of school (only me, no way, I don't believe it)!  I love the first offering of pumpkin spice lattes, butternut squash soup and roasted acorn squash.  I even love the displays of candycorn despite my actual dislike of this odd tasting candy.   Turtlenecks, plaid skirts, tights, knee-high boots, coats, (OH MY GOD COATS!) all add to the joys of fall.

Living in AZ for the last 3 falls has really made me appreciate "fall" but in a totally different way.  Our summer to fall transition consists of daytime temperatures that drop from the 100's into the 90's and nighttime lows of 70 (and this does not happen until the first week of October).  We are able to open our windows for the first time in 5 months and cooking indoors is possible again.  The convertible top can be put down without risk of spontaneous combustion.  Pants become a work outfit option again and not an awful punishment.  And last, and most important, our family runs can occur in the morning hours and do not need to be ending as the sun comes up.  While I do miss the fall antics of the northeast, these tastes of southwest fall cannot help but make us feel like "Life Begins Again"!

This week fall hit AZ.  I kicked off the season by celebrating "2 soup Sunday" where I made pasta fagioli and cream of broccoli soup (using my new AMAZING le creuset dutch oven, thanks Christine and Jerry!).  The joy of eating soup again was only second to being able to wear jeans to work this week!  Yesterday, we took a long family walk, exploring portions of a walking path that we have never been on.  We joined the path about 1 mile from our house and were able to walk past the flood overflow area of Tempe Town Lake (more on TempeTown Lake in a future post).  The flood overflow area has become a wetland sanctuary where huge birds come to hang out to eat.  It was really cool to see this much nature juxtapose to ASU's stadium.

The dogs loved being on a long walk.

The path even had a dog specific water fountain, totally cute!

Our walk was a great way to spend the morning and really made us feel like life was beginning again!

P.S. The pasta fagioli soup was so amazing that it is making a repeat appearance this week.