Crispy, crunchy Fall and my rose colored sunglasses

When we drive down the road I literally cannot contain by amazement and excitement over the explosion of Autumn leaves. The girls have taken to yelling "fire tree" when they see one with equaled enthusiasm. And to make everything seem even a tad more breathtaking, my sunglasses have a rosy tint to them which makes all of the leaves look a shade or two more vibrant and alive, if that is at all possible.
Did you know that those amazing fall colors are the true colors of the leaves, unmasked by Spring's deluge of chlorophyll...sometimes when I drive down the road I am thinking of this and feeling happy that all of these trees get to show their true selves for a few precious weeks....and then I start singing my best Cindy Lauper "True Colors"....I see your true colors shining through, I see your true colors and that's why I love you so don't be afraid, to let them shoooowww, your true colors are beautiful...like a rainnnnbowww..doo doo doo dah doo....I'm sorry, I've gone off on a tangent and now I'm lost in the 80's (there may be no coming back, and would that be so terrible?)...anyway, where was I? Oh, Volvos.
If I thought we would be here for an extended period of time we might have to build a stone wall and buy a Volvo station wagon. I love New England and this time of year is precisely why.
Today we anxiously awaited Clark home from a day and a half of duty, did our chores with speed (ie slightly sloppy) and enthusiasm (ie a smidgen of nagging and a threat or two) and set off for a family outing to celebrate Autumn in Connecticut.
First stop, a well preserved and active steam powered cider mill. We watched them squish the juice out of thousands of unsuspecting apples and then took the girls pictures in front of a truck load of macintosh. While we were standing in line to buy our Maple Moose suckers, apple butter and hot mulled apple cider with caramel we lamented the fact that we cannot have it all...besides the fact that I just made it sound like we were buying it all. Then we topped of the day with a trip to the Apple Orchard for a very large bag of hand picked delight and a carton of raspberries (the wait for the wagon ride pushed us beyond patience...after an hour...) and we opted to close the day with a little pasta and ice cream.











Clark and I feel indeed lucky to have loved every place that we have lived. However, with the possibility of ending this nomadic Navy lifestyle, we are saddened that we cannot live somewhere that has all of what we love. This is what I propose...a state in the Union that can provide us with all of the following:
1. Springtime in Texas...perfect weather and Rodeo season with a downtown that includes a place much like Pike's Place Market in Seattle
2. A Cape Cod summer...a little sand nearby, classy, warm, quaint, and a little preppy
3. A New England Fall...crispy, crunchy, the smell of mulled apple cider with caramel...and the leaves, my gosh, the leaves
4. And anywhere that has a short lived winter...let's say, four weeks of brisk weather, two mild blizzards providing us with two to three school "snow days", hot chocolate with mini marshmallows and free heat.