Ode to October

October in Illinois is my favorite month of the year. I can't really say that I miss Illinois that much - after all, the farm isn't the right place for my pointy toed Nine West's - but I do get pangs of homesickness, especially this time of the year. I remember October on the farm. The chill of the fall would start to set in, and I'd feel it in my bones when the wind somehow managed to penetrate my blue Adidas jacket. I used to sit on the tree swing dragging the toes of my sneakers through the dirt, watching the leaves fight with each other as they floated to the grass. Sometimes I'd drink hot cocoa - the kind that you get in the packet that comes with little marshmallows already included. I'd sit there until I fell asleep, full of ideas on how I was going to get out of there. It's not windy here, and it still stays fairly warm. You can't feel fall creeping up on you. It's just not the same at all. It's strange that I'd miss these things now. It was a lot more simple then. I hated life, but at least it was free of all those big decisions that we had to face once we grew up and left home.