Pumpkin Spice Me

Here in the Midwest it is finally starting to feel like the autumn.  The leaves - delayed by hot, dry weather - have finally begun to turn.  The warm days give way to cool nights.  And the pumpkin spice products are everywhere.

Coffee shop windows declare that the pumpkin spice lattes and cappuccinos are now available.  Burt's Bees has come out with a pumpkin spice lip balm.  And grocery stores advertise pumpkin spice-everything, from baking chips to cereals to protein bars.

I am waiting for the local gas station to announce that pumpkin spice scented gasoline has finally arrived.

This pumpkin-flavored frenzy may seem a bit much.  But there is something that drives this pumpkin obsession: the words "available for a limited time only."

That is the problem with this beautiful season we call autumn.  It is with us for such a limited time.

Here in Michigan the winter seems like it will go on forever.  The spring brings a slow warming and a promise of what lies ahead.  And the lazy, idyllic summer days, when we are in the midst of them, often feel like they will go on forever.  But that is the thing about fall. It seems to go by in a heartbeat with the leaves falling from the trees before our very eyes and the temperature falling ever so steadily toward that first snowfall.

And with that sense of urgency comes an overwhelming desire to visit that pumpkin patch for the perfect jack o'lantern, take that drive to see the trees in all of their blazing autumn glory, and grab something pumpkin-spice before it is gone.

Now that November is upon us, pumpkin spice flavors will slowly be replaced by more traditional Christmas favorites like peppermint and eggnog.  And so, I will happily indulge in something, anything, pumpkin spice before--like the fall season itself--it is gone.

Here's hoping that you too find something to enjoy during this all-too-short autumn
season.