It's beckoning....

Halloween, that is. I don't care that it's still a little ways away. So it isn't next month...as if that would stop me! I am already feeling like I want to start putting up decorations, as if to give it a warm welcome. I blame, in part, the weather, which is quite unlike weather we normally have this time of year. This week, it has suddenly gone from 100-degrees, to a much cooler, almost fall-like temperature. Naturally, I am loving it. My favorite time of the year is quickly approaching. Even though we are still in the summer season, right now it feels as if we are in the early stages of Fall. There has been a nice, cool breeze, and I swear that once or twice I have caught that heavenly scent that smells how Fall should smell. It's the smell of damp leaves, and fires burning in wood stoves somewhere in the distance. I have always said that Halloween has its own smell. It's one of my favorites; like the smell of a freshly carved pumpkin. Or, better yet, the wonderful smell of a jack-o-lantern when its lid begins to burn. But it's mostly when I begin to see signs of Fall and Halloween in all the stores around town that my desire to decorate really kicks into gear. We are almost in September now, and Halloween will be here before we know it. This is the part that I think I love most of all. That is, the anticipation of it, and all the preparation that goes into it. I am anxiously looking forward to it as I do every year. Mostly, though, I can't wait to visit my favorite stores again, and to seeing what new stuff I'll find to add to my collection. Yep, Halloween is on its way, and I'm going to be good 'n ready for it!