It's Finally Fall!

As I walked out onto the patio this morning, I felt the whoosh of a cool breeze as it gently brushed my face. Not only is fall in the air, but so is the relief from the past several months. Everyone knows it's hot in Phoenix, right? Well, I have lived here a really long time and I know I'm getting older, but I just can't take the heat and for that matter, the humidity. We seem to have a lot more humidity here than ever before. We have storm systems building up all around us and all we get is the humidity. Some areas of the valley get a lot of rain and wind damage. We even experienced several tornadoes in the northern part of the state this year, as well as a huge hailstorm.

I just spent a wonderful weekend in the foothills of the Appalachians in Northern Georgia. It was a reunion with a dear friend that I haven't seen in 35 years. She and her husband have a lovely weekend home in a very quaint little town known as Ellijay. I had a fabulous time reminiscing with her and enjoying every minute of the perfect weather and beautiful scenery. Her home sits atop a hill surrounded by tons of trees and bordered by a river.

I loved sitting down on the dock just listening to the sound of the river, the rustling of the trees, the chirping of the birds and the crunching of the leaves from the little squirrels that were hopping from tree to tree. It was a slice of heaven. The only real noise was the acorns dropping from the trees, hitting the tin roof or bouncing down the hill through the leaves. Even the locals said that the acorns were crazy this year.

It was Apple Festival time, so the little town was flooded with tourists and the traffic was bad. We both decided to stay in for the most part to avoid the crowds. We did manage to get into town for a bit and stopped to have some iced tea. We visited a few vendor booths before heading down to the Christmas House. What a lovely place. It's an old home turned into a magical Christmas shop. There is every kind of decoration you could imagine and some you would never think of. The people that decorate those trees are so creative!

We did visit a couple of the apple orchards and went into the town of Blue Ridge. If I had more time, we would have taken the train ride. I will save that for next time! We sat downtown and enjoyed a latte, visited a couple of shops and headed back to her place for grilled oysters and shrimp! The food was delicious and I was absolutely spoiled!

As you can imagine, I didn't want to leave. I am so grateful for having had this opportunity not only to see my dear friend and her husband, but to visit such a lovely and serene place.

Rekindling old friendships and finding peace is truly a key to regenerating your life.