Hints of Fall

Our love and appreciation for northwest autumns have grown since moving overseas. While Dubai and Shanghai both have very pleasant fall seasons, neither can beat the beauty of Oregon in October. Those crisp blue sky days, the scarlet trees, the golden glow of a pumpkin patch, and the crunch of leaves underfoot are truly something special. Colorful displays of seasonal change have always been lacking in our international home countries, and we miss them more and more each year.

This fall, Shanghai seemed to transition from muggy mosquito weather to downright chilly overnight. Mornings downstairs in our house require sweatshirts and socks, and we’ve even had to start turning on the heater on in our third floor bedroom for a few minutes before bed. While learning how to successfully heat a drafty 3-story house instead of a small apartment has been a bit troublesome, our beautiful new neighborhood had provided us with some lovely hints of fall that we have been missing the last 7 years.

During our walks around the neighborhood I have so enjoyed discovering little signs of the season- a pop of orange or crimson, a curly squash vine, hearing the crackle of dry leaves beneath the stroller wheels. Sure, it’s not “Oregon beautiful,” but each little colorful leaf warms my heart. Now if we could just stumble upon a pumpkin patch and hot apple cider stand…

Getting bundled up for a walk in early November.

These are some of the last photos I have of Isla in her darling pumpkin hat. I think it fell out of our diaper bag somewhere, as I have not been able to find it for weeks! Sniff, sniff… still hoping it will turn up around the house.

That face on the left cracks me up! The hat was sliding down.

Trying to spruce up our dingy front door- ha!

Lucky for us, some of the most beautiful leaves we’ve seen are in our backyard!