Fall In Arizona

I spent most of my early years in Wyoming, where we had basically two seasons: winter for 9 months, and spring for 3 months. I have friends who are transplants from the midwest or the east coast, and they sometimes bemoan the lack of seasons in Arizona. Not me. You could argue that I don't really know what it's like to have 4 seasons, and you might be right, but I do enjoy fall in Arizona. There really are leaves that change color; there's even a website that can direct you to the best places to see Arizona's Fall Leaves. The temperatures start to get cooler at night and through the morning, the heat during the day doesn't slap you when you walk out the door, and you can sit out on the back porch for dinner.

Fall also means planting rye grass (my favorite type), getting up in the dark, watching high school football games and getting cold before the game is over; buying interminable products from kids fundraising for school events, and seeing yard sale signs every weekend.

In the early years of our marriage, October meant the beginning of cotton-picking season, and very long days in the field, but still with the joy of the harvest (well, usually joy at the actual harvesting process; rarely was there much joy in the price of cotton).

And of course, it's the beginning of the holiday season, and the beginning of planning for the next three months. In short, it's the beginning of a new season.

In Morrison Ranch terms, Fall means the beginning of construction on Panda Express and the other shop space at Lakeview Village; Ashton Woods should begin actual sales at Highland Groves sometime this month; preliminary discussions continue concerning apartments at Highland Groves; discussions also continue on the industrial park along Power Road; the engineering work continues apace for Lakeview Trails North on the south side of Elliot; and the cleanup of the corrals and the old mill east of Higley Road next to the grain tanks is coming along nicely.

In our office, our fall sprucing up continues with wallpaper hanging commencing this week; the outside being repainted in the next month (same color); rye grass being planted soon; and of course, the continuation of our march toward a paperless office.

That about sums it up. Welcome to Fall in Arizona.