It wasn't entirely surprising that none of the rooms in our new place have fans — I've heard that a general lack of fans is common in the northern and eastern parts of the U.S. — but what did surprise me is how much I'd miss those seldom-considered ceiling fixtures. I like having moving air, especially when I'm sleeping, so in Texas we often had our bedroom fan spinning all year long. It was weird on that first night in Virginia, to kick the covers off in the middle of the night and not immediately get cold again.
My mother-in-law commented on this too, as my in-laws stayed the night with us after helping me move all my crap across the country. My first thought was to turn up the air conditioning; hers was to open windows. (Obviously she'd lived in the northeast before.) And that was like, revolutionary to me. Open the windows?! Say whaaaat.
(All you people who live in the north are rolling your eyes and laughing at my ignorance/silliness. But seriously, this can't be a year-round thing, can it? What do you do when it's too warm inside in the middle of winter? I can't imagine you open the windows when it's snowing.)
So that's been a weird thing. Every time it gets kind of warm, I open a (screened) window or the (screened) sliding glass door. Elliott is having a field day.
Plus! It's legitimately fall here. In Texas, all the trees will be green one day, and the next day they're all bald. There's no pretty colors or crisp air, and most of the time it gets warm again after all the leaves fall.
But while Elliott was looking out the open back door with her whiskers pressed up against the screen, she jumped as leaves came streaming onto our patio, and looked over at me like she had no idea what was happening.
We'll get used to it, though. :)
Scenic overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Gorgeous, gorgeous place to see the fall colors! Pics don't do it justice.
Already scarf weather! Finally getting to put my enormous collection to use.