twin lakes preserve, wantagh ny

I woke up this morning with a raging head cold, but that did not thwart me from getting out of bed. At 4:52am I woke up, smiled, sneezed, and said to no one in particular “It’s October!”

October is arguably the greatest month of the year. There’s an awakening that happens for me, an energy that resides in the turn of the calendar page, energy I didn’t have in July or August or even September. I’m invigorated, ready to go, to take on the world. I get manic in October, a mania I don’t mind because I get so much done.

The weather turns cooler almost suddenly come October (never mind that it’s going to be near 90 tomorrow, it will drop to 60 come Thursday), the mugginess of the summer gone, the heat a thing of the past. I can finally take my boots out of hiding, my sweaters out of the closet. Summer may be hot girl weather, a season for showing off beach bods, but autumn is for people like me, people who like to wear big sweaters and oversized hoodies, clothes that hide the fact we’ve been eating ice cream all summer long. I take out my fleece leggings (I have them in six different colors) and pair them with boots and a sweater and I feel absolutely magical when I leave the house in the morning.

The best part of October may be the changing of the guard as trees don their summer wear for their more colorful fall outfits. Nature goes from a never ending canopy of greens to bursts of red and yellow and orange. Driving…