The temperatures around DC have dropped quite a bit. There are frost warnings. The morning sky is a deep shade of blue, with nary a scrap of haze in sight. The leaves on the trees range from summer greens to vibrant yellows, oranges and reds.

Yup – it’s fall (or autumn for those in certain areas of the globe).

Fall is a great time. It’s a time of transition, nature putting away its summer wardrobe and preparing for a blanket of snow. It’s a time of revisiting old friends, like polarfleece jackets, knit hats, wool gloves and the warming power of a hot coffee, tea or cocoa at all hours of the day. It’s a time of sonic tapestries: the flocks of geese flying to their winter homes in the south, the cold wind coming from the north, and the crunch of trading on fallen leaves and acorns as the trees shed their summer adornments.

Best of all: it signals that ski season is right around the corner.