Autumn in the Air

It is October first...can't believe summer swimming, sun bathing and sweat stains in shirt armpits time is ended. LOL I know not everyone has armpit sweat stains but down here in the humid south you tend to see that in the summer! The air is cool and crisp and the feeling of autumn is in the air.  I love this time of year!  It means that the Georgia National Fair is coming to town along with the sweet smell of candy apples, funnel cakes and fun!

The fair reminds me of my young, carefree days when all I had to worry about was if I looked cute and my homework was done.  Oh how I miss those days.  Life was so much simpler then. Not like now when you have to worry about bills, the economy, bullying in schools, finding a job in a horrible economy.  I digress, gotta keep it light.  I do get a bit nostalgic during fall.  I guess the coolness in the air and the smells of the season trigger all these things to flash back into my mind.

I guess if something is going to be triggered by your senses it should definitely be something that made you feel good and carefree!  Well I am going to go ahead and go with that flow and relive all those old good feelings by heading to the fair next weekend!  Gonna have me a Gyro and maybe share a funnel cake with the family.  After all instead of focusing on all the negative things going on around us we need to harness the good things and keep them in a pocket of our memories so that we can someday relive it when we need it most and feel good about things.

I have many good and many bad memories of my childhood but I forced myself to let go of the bad and nurture the good.  I remember when I was young my Mom was raising us as a single mom for a while.  We didn't have much money but she always seemed to find creative ways to keep us fed, clothed and happy.  She worked hard to do the best she could to take us places for us to enjoy our childhood.  I really can appreciate what she did for us now as a parent myself.  It is difficult enough as it is to care for our own children with both mother and father let alone with just one parent.  I think my Mom did and excellent job and I appreciate that.

I remember that one year we saw that the fair/carnival was in town and we so wanted to go.  Everyone we knew had gone or were going.  My mom squeezed out what she could from her already squeezed budget and put together a few meager dollars to take us.  Me and my two siblings were so excited! When it came to the day to go we were told by my mom that the money she put aside had been lost.  We were so sad!  She told us that we could still go but could not ride anything or have any treats.  I think we were sad about no rides or treats but excited that we could still be walking around in that atmosphere and take in all the sites and smells for free.

We all made the best of it and I knew it hurt my Mom that she would not be able to give us the extras, but we were fine.  I remember that we wandered over to one of the carnival games with the big spinning wheel and I was eyeing a plastic tea set with little rosebuds on them.  Oh how I could picture in my little mind drinking fake tea out of it with my little pinkie sticking up just like I had seen on TV.  I just stood there dreaming when someone put down a quarter in front of me.  I don't even know if it was my mom or someone else I just stared at it.  I was urged by the Carney game worker to place my bet on a number.  I slowly pushed the quarter on a number and then stared at the tea set hopefully.

The man spun the number wheel and I held my eyes on the wheel.  PLEASE fall on my number!  Oh man it just stopped short of my number.....my eyes fell in sadness.  I heard........WE HAVE A WINNER!  Oh great someone else won. Oh well......WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE YOUNG LADY?  I looked up and the man was looking at me!  I look down to where I pushed the quarter and saw the man pushing it to the right number.  I looked right at the tea set and the man was already bringing it to me!  I told him thank you like a million times.  I looked over at my Mom and she looked like she was about to cry.  She thanked the man quietly and nodded her head at him in appreciation.  I looked back, as I walked away with my prize, and waved one more time at the man who had made my year. 

That evening all three siblings played with that tea set.  We were all so excited that we had won.  We played with that tea set for months and never tired of it.  I always remember that tea set and the man who helped me win it.  It was such a kind gesture he gave us. It really touched my heart .  That tea set meant so much to me.

To this day whenever I go to a fair and smell the cotton candy, corn on the cob and other various fair foods I think of that carnival at St. Mary's and think of that carnival man and my tea set and I feel like a kid again.  I love the Autumn and I love the fair.

I hope you all enjoy the Autumn and it helps you to remember good things, happy things and most of all Positive things.

Have a Positively Blessed Day!