Oh, it’s happening!  I’ve made the official proclamation in my house that fall begins on September 1st this year.  Usually I wait until the temperatures are lower, fall decor is everywhere, or at least until after the first Razorback football game.  But this year?  I’m taking charge.  I need a change.  And so, I’m putting Harvest Blend essential oil in my diffuser, drawing a pumpkin on the chalkboard, and getting the show on the road.  It all started when my Country Living magazine arrived in the mail this weekend, and I became somewhat giddy at the sight of pumpkins and “Creativity” splashed across the cover.

And, like a bear coming out of hibernation, I saw the light . . . my answer.  Fall is my absolute favorite season, and since it’s almost here, why not just hurry it along a bit!  So, to get up-to-speed, let’s start our fall education, shall we?  Perfect for back-to-school I think!  How about a little game of “Did you know . . .” to get the party started!

1. Did you know that it takes 36 apples on average to create a gallon of cider?
2. Did you know that 90% of pumpkins grown in the US are raised within a 90-mile radius of Peoria, Illinois?
3. Did you know that the tradition of carving pumpkins originated in Ireland? The Irish would carve jack-o-lanterns out of turnips to scare evil spirits during the Celtic holiday, Samhain, the night when spirits of the dead would walk the earth.
4. Did you know that autumn babies, or those born between September and November, are more likely to live to 100 than those who were born in other times of the year?
5. Did you know that each fall, the Black-capped Chickadee’s tiny hippocampus enlarges by 30%, which enables it to remember where it collected seeds in different spots in trees and on the ground?
6. Did you know that while Americans typically use the word “fall,” the British use the word “autumn,” though both terms date from around the 16^th Century?  Before these terms, the period was called “harvest.”
7. Did you know the word “harvest” comes from the Old Norse word “haust,” which means “to gather or pluck”?  As people moved to the cities, “harvest” fell out of use and the city dwellers began to use “fall of the leaf,” which was shortened to “fall.”
8. Did you know that while heart attacks and car accidents increase after the start of daylight savings time in the spring, that the opposite is true for the end of it in the fall?  Heart attacks and accidents decrease the Monday after daylight savings time ends.
9. Did you know that a study in the journal Perception noted that men think women are more attractive in the cooler season?
10. Did you know that according to superstition, catching leaves in autumn brings good luck?  Every leaf caught means a lucky month in the next year.
11. Did you know that Americans consume about 600 million pounds of Hershey bars, lollipops, Milk Duds, Twizzlers and Clark bars as Halloween candy?
12. AND, did you know that each autumn, monarch butterflies migrate from the US to Mexico and some parts of Southern California?  They fly at speeds ranging between 12 and 25 miles per hour.  Monarch butterflies are the only insect that migrates to a warmer climate which is 2500 miles away.