Forget the Varnish

Whenever people ask me what my favorite season is, I always tell them that it's the Fall. All of the colors that paint the landscape so beautifully, and the crisp cool air that requires me to wear my two favorite items of clothing: zip-up hoodies and scarves; the celebration of thanksgiving and the sweet smells of pumpkin and warm spices that begin to fill up my kitchen. Fall just brings so many wonderful things.

The truth is, though, that I love every season. There is something about each of them that makes me really happy and gives me a sort of peace. Spring brings new growth and warmer air, summer brings soccer and days and the beach and radiant sunshine, winter brings snowmen and peppermint hot chocolate and Christmas; they all bring me joy somehow. But I think what I like most are the holidays. Spring is amazing because my favorite holiday, Easter, is during it. The whole season brings new life and it reminds me of rebirth and the hope that I have of growth in my own life. Summer brings vacation and the cottage; a time to relax and sift through the past year, figuring things out. I also do most of my writing and reading in this season, so it brings with it time to return to the things that I love. Fall brings Thanksgiving, another one of my favorite holidays because it is usually the first time that I will have seen my family since heading off to school for the year. And I can't lie, pumpkin flavored anything makes my mouth water. And then there is winter, with Christmas and all the joy that it brings. I'm not such a big fan of the whole gift-buying thing, but I am a fan of wood-stove fires and the beautiful lights and spending an entire day with my family while tantalizing smells sift through my nose.

I can't even explain it really, but the holidays always make me feel good. Maybe it's that feel-good apple cinnamon smell, or maybe it's the fact that over the years I have made so many good memories, or maybe it's the feeling that around the holidays people seem to be more warm and inviting and less likely to bicker about useless things.I don't really know, but I love it. I am such a sucker for the holidays, and I always will be.

photo via (we heart it)