The smell of Autumn

Today's prompt on NaBloPoMo;
Which smell lets you know that it is autumn?
 

Hands down, the first thing I think of is cinnamon. Remember two days ago when I said Fall wasn't my favorite season? Well this goes right along with that, and the fact that a lot has changed for me this year. Cinnamon, I hate the over powering smell of cinnamon when you walk into a grocery store this time of year. Honestly the second you walk in there is this big 'ol draft of cinnamon and there's no escaping it. I guess they must dip an entire bag of pine cones into a huge vat of cinnamon and then I think they place a fan underneath the pine cones to make sure you are bombarded with the stench smell. I'm obviously not a fan.

Why are they dipped in pine cones anyway? I assume that's what they are. I never get close enough to them to really look.

For some reason, this year, it doesn't bother me as bad. Maybe it's because I'm really liking fall this year. Is it a pregnant thing? Maybe it is now that I think about it. 2 years ago I was pregnant at this exact same time and I couldn't wait for Thanksgiving. Actually...that was just about the food lol. What pregnant woman doesn't want Thanksgiving to hurry the hell up and get here?!

Back to my original thought though. Any time of year if I smell cinnamon it makes me think of fall right away. While I still don't particularly appreciate the stores tactic of attacking me with it, I am starting to appreciate it more.

And, since we're on the subject. Do you know how good cinnamon is for you? Apparently really good. My mother has told me about many remedies over the years and almost all of them contain cinnamon. To name a few potential aliments that might be helped by cinnamon;

• muscle spasms
• vomiting 
• diarrhea 
• infections 
• the common cold
• loss of appetite
• erectile dysfunction (interesting?)

Cinnamon may lower blood sugar in people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. (From Medical News Today)

There are also some out there that say it can/may help with fungal infections, Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer's.  There may be something to this, I think a lot of this is still in the research phase but you have to start somewhere right?

If you're still interested in this lovely tree bark and want to learn more about it's potential uses here's a great website I found with some good info.
http://www.learnvest.com/2012/09/20-unexpected-uses-for-cinnamon/

Oh, and apparently the scent of cinnamon can help sharpen the mind and make you more focused...maybe King Sooper's just wants us all to be smarter shoppers?

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my wonderful mother's birthday, she is 51 today. We celebrated last night by going out to dinner with the family (most of us anyway) and it was so nice being able to spend time together. It's rare that my brother, sister-in-law, sister husband and parents are all together. Of course my hubby was out of the country but it was great seeing everyone else. I know my mom was happy too. :-)

Today's prompt in the NaBloPoMo is;

"Winter and summer are two seasons that have songs clearly associated with the time period. But are there any songs that remind you of fall?"

My response to that? None. Really. I've been thinking about this today and literally there isn't a single song that I can say always reminds me of fall. Is that sad? There are plenty of songs out there that remind of of certain times of my life, certain people in my life, even winter...but not fall.

So instead of writing about the song that makes me think of fall, here I'll leave you with a list of popular fall songs. Maybe here soon I'll hear a song on the radio and I'll think "YES! That's it! This song makes me think back to fall..." but for now, I'll leave you with this...

Wake Me Up When September Ends Green Day
Gone Till November  Wyclef Jean
Girl from the North Country  Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
October  Broken Bells
California Dreamin'  The Mamas & The Papas
Harvest Moon  Neil Young
Autumn In New York  Bille Holiday
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground  The White Stripes
Autumn  Bombay Bicycle Club
Country Song  Jake Bugg 
Autumn Almanac  The Kinks
Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy  Fall Out Boy
Autumn Leaves (ft. Kendrick Lamar) Chris Brown 
November Rain  Guns N' Roses 
Autumn Leave Eva Cassidy



Looking over a few of these songs I can say that "Wake Me Up When September Ends" does make me think about fall time. I just never realized it before.


There you have it. Are there any songs that make you think of the fall time?

Favorite Autumn Sound

I've been thinking about this one all day. Autumn brings upon many different smells, sights and tastes, certainly different feelings as the weather starts to change. But what does Autumn sound like? And what's my favorite of those sounds?

When I was younger the sounds were different this time of year. I'd be starting school again, getting ready in the morning with the birds chirping, listening to other kids in the neighborhood piling into their cars, the school bell ringing and lots of talkative friends.

I don't hear those sounds anymore. Someday, when Alivia is starting school I'm guessing those sounds will come rushing back to me. But now, as an adult and a married woman and a mommy? It's the crunching of the leaves under my little girls feet. The sound of her little voice saying "Mommy crunch!" and her shoes running across the pavement or sloshing through the wet grass as fast as she can go to crunch the leaves on the ground. It's the sound of her giggles and smiles as she looks up at me while stomping her little feet in the leaves and looking around for more to chase.

The sound of  leaves blowing down the sidewalk in the wind is also quite nice. It's a little unsettling as it usually reminds me of some scary movie but it's also calming when it's the only thing you hear.

My favorite sound of fall has changed over the years, that's for sure. My liking for the season at all has changed, and that's a good thing.