Officially fall

We've passed the first official day of fall per the calendar, but in Texas that's pretty meaningless. The high was 94, so it sure doesn't feel like fall around here. Honestly, I'd just be glad if we could transition to temps topping out in the 80s. I don't need to be in boots and a sweater. But it sure would be nice to put away my shorts and bring out the jeans.

I recently whipped up a big pot of Italian meatball and cheese tortellini soup for a couple ladies in our hood who were feeling under the weather. I always associate soups with late fall and winter time, so this was a bit of an anomaly for me. I'm still getting the hang of our gas stove here at the lake house. Making turkey meatballs from scratch was fun. However, I'm not one of those folks who loves cooking. But I'll admit it was satisfying to make a nice big pot of healthy soup so I had enough to put in our lake freezer for this winter.

I don't know why I was surprised when I was in Lowe's recently to pick up a couple bags of decorative gravel and caught them putting out Christmas decor. That meme about Hallowgivingmas is pretty darned accurate. I swear Christmas hits the aisles a little earlier every fall. Oh sure, it's the most wonderful time of the year and nobody loves Christmas more than me. But I just can't be too enthused when it still feels like summer here in our neck of the piney woods.