zero-waste :: autumn

Often the first hint I have that a new season is upon us is the new stuff in the shops. The autumn things we could buy arrived when we were still enjoying air conditioning + iced drinks. This is actually great marketing, because at that point I would have had to buy autumn.

Where we live the leaves are now turning + falling. The wind was blowing acorns flying off of our oak yesterday and...ping, ping, ping...into the house. Autumn is here + we didn't have to buy a thing in order to experience it. A few simple, zero-waste ways we're embracing this season of gold, rust + red are...

sight ::
-a pumpkin on the table
-a few sprigs of wheat scattered among my tiny ceramics collection
-walks in the woods + in the neighborhood
​-watching Gilmore Girls again...there's just something about New England in autumn
-noticing familiar trees along our usual routes at each stage of color change 
-counting monarchs flitting + persisting
​-greeting the return of the early stars + planets
-appreciating the last of the happy sunflowers 

smell ::
-getting out all of the candles + lighting them in the darkening evenings
-apples simply cut, smelled + crunched
-breathing that musty leaf smell deep (+ keeping a tissue handy)

taste ::
-hot, spicy tea 
-chocolate chip, pecan, pumpkin bread
-all the soups
-lots of roasted, root vegetables

sound ::
-leaves rustling + crunching
-blustery winds howling
-revisiting familiar, smooth sounds...we love Ben Howard + Trevor Hall 

touch ::
-pulling out all the blankets
-and socks
-and cozy sweaters

What simple autumn pleasures are you enjoying lately? I'd love to hear!  :)

Love,
Jane