Birthday promise to myself.: Welcome Fall!

Hello all! Fall is love, right? There is just something so entirely captivating about the crispsness in the air, the crunch under your feet, the smell of falling leaves. It's the perfect time between the hot humidity of a fun filled summer and a cold frosty winter full of family and celebrations. Fall, to me, is the perfect bridge between to two. It's like mother nature saved her best for us, and she put it all in Fall.
What one thing do you equate Fall with in your mind? Apple picking? Pumpkins? Bonfires? For a lot of people there is something that happens, some event where it just clicks "This is Fall!" in their minds. Today I walked to my Grandparents house to visit. I can't stress enough how blessed I know I am that I can simply walk out the door and be with any member of my immediate family with just a short walk. Most people don't have that option. As I grow older I know that the memories I have with my Grandparents will be with me for a lifetime, and even though they can grind my gears sometimes, I truly do love them for all they have done to hold me and my family together for so many years.
This blog post came about because today, as I rounded the corner to the garage to find my Papaw, I asked him "Well what's broken now?" because it seems like, for the past few months, something breaks on an almost weekly basis. He told me that my Grandma was working and that she had been asking about Hickory nuts. "I've heard a few fall out there out of the little tree on the left. If you go pick some up, we'll both be in with the old girl." In translation: go pick up some nuts and Grandma will be happy.
So, for me, Fall is here. Hickory nuts, for me, signify the beginning of Fall. The same two trees litter the ground in the front of my Grandparents yard with Hickory nuts at about this time every year. I have memories locked away inside from as far back as I can remember about picking up Hickory nuts in the yard with my siblings. We would have pokes and coffee cans and would sit in one spot and see how many we could reach from that one spot without moving. After we had coffee can after coffee can full, we would watch as Grandpa methodically, delicately, precisely cracked them with a hammer on the porch. It was a sign of maturity when he said "Okay now son, I'm going to show you how to crack them." Hickory nuts are my Fall.
I took pictures today while I was picking up and cracking some of the first Hickory nuts of the season. There are more nuts to come. It's truly something to look forward to!