FALL AF — The Candle

You said you weren’t basic.

Cute.

Then the temperature dropped below 70 and suddenly there was a wreath on the door, a Pumpkin Spice Latte in your hand, mums on the porch, and a candle lit before noon.

FALL AF is not here to be subtle.

It opens with leaves.

Many leaves.

Dry, crunchy, fully booked and emotionally unavailable until November leaves.

Then pumpkin arrives because obviously.

Cashmere pumpkin. Spiced pumpkin. Pumpkin in a beverage. Pumpkin in a cart. Pumpkin sitting next to a sign that says HARVEST even though it is still technically humid outside.

We are not judging.

We are participating.

Pear keeps it crisp. Black pepper keeps it from getting too sweet. Cinnamon acts exactly how cinnamon acts. Cedarwood, vetiver, dry woods, and embers drag the whole thing out of craft-store territory and into something you can actually be seen owning.

This is flannel with lip gloss.

A haunted hayride you pretended was ironic.

A $7 pumpkin drink you called “just this once.”

Mums you bought before they had any business being outside.

A decorative gourd with no job and entirely too much confidence.

Football on Saturday.

Football on Sunday.

A candle burning at 11:43 in the morning because it is 67 degrees and apparently that is all it takes.

Basic? Obviously.

Embarrassed? Never.

Every year we act like we are above it.

Every year October arrives and proves otherwise.

FALL AF is not trying to reinvent fall.

It came to give you the whole damn season.

The Opening · Leaves · Pear Skin · Black Pepper
The Middle · Pumpkin · Persimmon · Cashmere · Cinnamon
The Base · Cedarwood · Vetiver · Embers · Dry Woods

You were going to anyway.