Asking for Autumn to Appear

Today, as I walked on campus in shorts and a t-shirt, I said a prayer. I asked that Autumn comes soon. Already she is late in coming. We are getting cooler weather, but nothing that says it is time for Fall. The sun was warm, but it is beginning to have that orangey Autumn glow. The breezes are blowing leaves and blossoms across the toe of my shoe, but there is still a heat to the air.
I must admit, I have been using my air conditioner less than usual, but it is just not cooling down to the usual temperatures. It is for the Autumn and Winter that desert dwellers endure the sweltering heat of the Summer. The first truly Fall day, there is a resounding "ah, this is why I love living here."
Autumn brings to many other things besides a break from hot weather. It brings family. The Fall season and its family get-togethers are my favorite--the golden top of a pumpkin pie, the roasted turkey, the orange of a carved out jack o' lantern. Smiles on faces even seem to be brighter in the harvest glow of the sun. I just love the Autumn. It is most certainly my favorite time of year.
There always seems to be a crisp clean smell in the air. The trees are dressed in their brightest colors. And, people seem to be more calmed during this season.
My fondest memories of the Fall have always been my birthday and of course, Halloween. Halloween is certainly one of my favorite holidays. Ghosts and ghouls roam the streets in search of treats. It is probably the only time I am able to talk to my neighbors and see happy childrens' faces.
Halloween in New Jersey, as a child, was the most magical time for me. I would don a costume and wander the streets until late in the evening with my mum. The wind would blow. Leaves would fall from the sky like raindrops. The trees would bend down toward the street, seeming to reach for my candy. There is no fall like the fall in a place where there are truly seasons.
In Utah, I spent two Halloweens. What a beautiful place in the Autumn. The pumpkins seemed to be more orange. The white mountain tops looming over the city of Salt Lake cast an eerie aura over the evening of trick-or-treaters.
My birthday is in the Autumn. Almost inevitably I would have a Halloween theme for my parties. There was always something so great about black spiders, witches, vampires and mummies. For years, my favorite pair of earrings were a pair of black metal spiders that were, many times, taken to be real.
It is Autumn, but not officially yet. I am still waiting for Her to cool down the weather, reach down and blow my hair with her cool wind, and allow for a season of pumpkins, yellow chrysanthemums, and candlelit evenings where classical music fits the mood and the weather.
Hurry, Autumn, hurry! I'm waiting. I am asking. I am begging. Hurry!