"Fall" by Jenismar Cabán Dumeng

Fall, the season where you walk outside and find yourself filled with quiet joy as the leaves shift from yellow to orange to red, and somehow, back to yellow again. The season where, with each step, the dropping temperature wraps around your skin like a soft reminder that it’s finally sweater weather. You wake up in the morning, and before the scent of pancakes or pumpkin spice coffee reaches you, it's the crisp morning air that greets your senses.

You glance out your bedroom window to see birds in flight, migrating south, and think to yourself; nature is preparing for rest. The animals are tucking themselves in. It’s harvest season, spooky season, Thanksgiving and Oktoberfest all at once. Earthy tones seem to cover everything, and everywhere you look, you think of fall.

Burnt orange brings to mind the changing leaves. Olive green reminds you of the trees still standing tall, full of rich oxygen. Burgundy echoes the calm of a cool glass of wine after a long day. And mustard yellow? It feels like the sky right before the sunset, that perfect moment that makes you stop and just stare.

There are activities that stir something deeper; apple picking, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, hayrides, bonfires, football games, hiking, leaf peeping. Things that make you whisper, “I should reconnect with nature more often,” even though deep down you know, once the season fades, you'll likely slip back into the rhythm of screens and schedules.

Fall, the season that gently reminds us what it feels like to slow down, look around, and be fully present, even if just for a moment.

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