It’s officially fall, and the pumpkins are popping even here in New Mexico. Along with them come the roasting chiles, the mums, and Halloween costumes and candy in stores (we’re not even gonna talk about the Christmas shit stuff I saw in Walmart yesterday). While I love summer and warm weather, I won’t deny my affinity for most things autumn: cooler temperatures, pumpkins (of course!), candles, sweaters, fires (even if out here they’re usually gas-fueled rather than wood), exchanging flip-flops for my kick-ass, little booties, and so on.

 

Like New England, New Mexico holds off till fall to show its best self. In Albuquerque we may not get the range of foliage colors quite like we had in Massachusetts, but the yellows and golds of the cottonwoods and aspens stand out brilliantly against the almost daily blue-blue sky. And there’s little chance that a nasty, wind-driven rainstorm (worse, an ice storm!) will strip the leaves off the trees one night while we sleep.

This week I’m finishing up three mug rugs to sell Sunday at my final Rail Yards date for the year. (Until December 11’s Holiday Market, that is, but more on that later.) Two are autumnal in nature, one being a pumpkin. There are two other pumpkins in my inventory, and I’m hoping that at least a couple of them find new homes this coming weekend.

No blog next week; we’ve got my sister-in-law coming into town just in time for Albuquerque’s Balloon Fiesta. Tom and I are looking forward to going  to a “Glow” one evening which is when they fire up some of the balloons after it gets dark. They don’t go anywhere (because flying in the dark would be a CRAZY thing to do), but they look pretty…glowing. Hopefully, pics will come out so that I can share them here.

 

What do you look forward to most when cold weather and fall finally come calling? Share your pumpkins on High on Hooking’s Facebook page.