Well, summer is rearing it's head once more this week, bringing hot and very humid weather.  I'm not a fan.  However, I have heard said that a big part of the joy we experience in life is the anticipation of those coming experiences.  I simply JOY in the very THOUGHT of fall!  I look at photos such as this one and take vicarious pleasure in the knowledge of what is to come!  This year I hope for an especially colorful season, as I do every year!  With the first day of autumn approaching, I know I can endure this doggie summer finale.  Oh to have the freedom to see the flaming woodlands of Vermont, the quaint painted towns of Indiana or the golden Blue Ridge Mountains on a bluebird, cool, October day.  Oh to button up a wool sweater and find myself on a back road path, complete with warm sunshine shooting through orange and red Sassafras canopies!  Oh to taste freshly tapped Maple syrup and smell the wood burning underneath the black iron kettle while it cooks to a thick bubbly delight!  Oh to sit on a home-made quilt beneath floating yellow leaves, holding a hot mug of apple cider.  Hot chili, cornbread, pumpkin bread and apple pie - all tease my tastebuds and memories!  Every year I wait and then truly savor each delicious moment of the season.  Each year, I would love to lengthen its stay.   Here is my "ode" to the coming of fall's fascinating delicacies!