Fall is in the air...

Well last Friday I wasn’t in a physical condition to post to my blog. I was gone all day long, in the woods. And for those of you who know me, me in the woods???  I was out gathering, rather searching, for mushrooms. I had my first experience, and a very French one at that, “aux champignons” as they say.  In the US, or at least in my family, friends, and region never have I heard of someone talk about going out to gather mushrooms. So for me this is something new and different and the way the French speak about it a definite thing “bien Français”. Although, I will say it is quite fun actually but exhausting because you walk slowly with your head down, and then you bend down every 30 seconds or so for hours on end without getting lost on top of it all. I walked around the woods, in search of a few types that were indicated to me as the ones that won’t make you see colorful lights or spend hours in the bathroom. Looking around moss covered fallen trees, under ferns up to my waist, and damp dark areas of the woods it was a fairly successful day. This activity gave me a similar feeling as does a hay ride or a cup of hot apple cider, Fall is in the air. Now that it is October, it is time to get ready for Halloween. Although in France, Halloween is an imported commercial holiday, similar to Valentine’s Day. So there are the few and far between French who have adopted it and the others who are completely uninterested in this American holiday. I don’t care if they don’t like it, I love Halloween and I will try to convert as many French to the holiday as possible. My window decals are on, so my neighbors can wonder what we are up to. Decorations to come and lots of mini pumpkins already sit on my table in a bowl that another neighbor gave me from her garden. This time of year is hard to be in France, even though I have not been in the US for Halloween or Thanksgiving for that matter for 9 years. The Fall spirit we Americans have is great, keeps the seasonal depression away.