Delicious Autumn!

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. - George Eliot

I love Fall, it's my absolute favorite time of the year. It's cool, but not cold, and its' arrival ushers in a sweet and peaceful inundation of the senses. Colors, smells and taste buds seem to take over the next two months, and for some inexplicable reason a certain peace always seems to come over me. There's something about Fall that just calls to me. Someone told me once, it's too bad that humans can't be more like leaves and go out at their best, their most beautiful, perfect state.

It's during this time I year I love to grab the camera and just take off.

Friday, I decided it was Stone Mountain. I haven't been to the top in 12 years, and as luck would have it, it was fall then too. Imagine that:)

I figured Fall, apples, cinnamon = FALL, so I whipped up a Apple Coffeecake (courtesy of Emeril) before I left. It was pretty good. I added some pecans to the crumbly top and in retrospect I'd fore go the glaze next time. It's just extra sweetness that quite honestly you simply don't need.

So I talked my brother into going with me and off we went...

My memory, and apparently my brothers' GPS, was "spent"for the week because we ended up parking in the village and walking in to the tram. Note to self: Rethink this next time:) When you're not a walker (that'd be me) the 2 mile trek in comes as a bit of surprise!

Once there however, my incessant moaning and complaining

about how I was sure I was going to die from the walk, was

silenced and all of sudden the trek became well worth it.

You'd never guess a big slab granite rising 1600ft above

sea level could have much to offer in the beauty arena.....funny how nature does that. A good friend told me once that he found beauty in imperfection and in this case - how true.

We decided to walk down the mountain as to taking the tram and I'm so glad we did! Beyond the tremendous beauty the mountain graciously contributes, you come to recognize it gave you a much more precious gift. Time.

Time is the most precious gift you can give someone as it's part of your life that you can never get back. In this case, the time my brother and I spent together enjoying the beauty of nature and enjoying each other is a gift I'm sure I'll come to cherish.

I guess it comes back to the leaves. Sunsets, leaves, people. It's

toward the end when we recognize their beauty and when they affect us the most. They come, and in a blink of an eye - they're gone.

Enjoy life. Enjoy the people in your life. Impart the precious gift of time to those you love, because before you know it - the sun will set and the leaf will wither and fall from the tree.

Jodie