By: Stephanie Reynolds
Its time is here!
After many months of (glorious) sun-drenched days and hot-sky nights, the one whom many of us have been pining for has finally bought its ticket to Athens and it arrived in September… however, we have just begun to notice its accoutrements.
We will finally feel that autumn has arrived in all its splendor starting this weekend with the cooler weather and all the delights that autumn brings when it visits. By the time you read this, our plaid-and-pumpkin-spice friend will be greeting us with its familiar voice of migrating geese and the delicious crunch of dried leaves on a sidewalk.
Its petrichor perfume will mingle with the scent of wood smoke and apples and will waft down every street and through every forest.
I find it fascinating, this changing of the guard from summer sun to autumn air. I love summer. I long for summer. But this year I am quietly and imperceptibly tilting my chin at summer, gesturing toward the door of seasons. Summer has places to be, people to warm and delight. It is time for summer to go.
And go it does. Suddenly. Abruptly. Like it realizes it’s late for an appointment on the other end of the planet. I get it. I too have sometimes lingered longer than I had intended because I didn’t want to leave those I was with alone.
So autumn is arriving just in the nick of time. Summer can hand over the mornings and evenings, the air and the rain. The two seasons will compare notes this weekend, then summer will hasten south as autumn welcomes each of us with a wink and a cool kissing wind.
“Oh my!” I think, feeling like a terrible hostess. Still with 4th of July items strewn about my office, I have not made plans for myself and autumn yet! Autumn has arrived, and I am still in my wholly unprepared, white-after-Labor-Day mind, disoriented by how long summer had lingered in the calendar.
Autumn’s presence is upon us as I write this; I saw the arrival announcement as I drove up Monte Sano last week. Like a sign in an airport, the changing leaves and mist along that winding road stated mutely that the rest of autumn’s entourage was due to pull up to the gate soon. I marveled at the colors, not the message, and was glad summer had come to our church picnic.
But here we are with summer packing up fruit and blossom, green leaf and white cotton, and leaving in a cloud of fireflies as autumn slips gently into the town that missed it so much.
Coffee will get warmer as the days get colder. Popsicles will be replaced (eventually!) by icicles. The red of the June rose, long released from dried, fallen petals, will dance gaily across cheeks, making even the honored eldress look like a blushing maiden again.
My neighbors and friends! Quickly! How will we welcome our long-away friend, autumn? Help me think of ways to delight in its presence!
Wait! I know! I know autumn loves trails and woods. Let’s make lots of time to greet it with a thermos of warm tea and hearty spiced cookies as we shuffle through pine and oak confetti.
Then let’s go shopping and adorn our porches and offices and homes with autumn’s favorite mums and straw.
And over the weeks, as autumn turns the white sun gold, let’s reflect that light in our eyes and hearts. Let’s make this season one of thankfulness and time, of love and friendship, of leaves and laughter.
Autumn has arrived. Let’s go meet it together.
Opportunities to Enjoy Autumn’s Arrival Merchants Alley Happy Hour Music Series: October 16, 2026, 5:30-7 p.m. at Merchants Alley Athens Honey Bee Festival 2026: October 17, 2026, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at Athens Farmers Market
October 14, 18, 21, 25, & 28: Judgement House — Sponsored by First Baptist Church, Ardmore, Alabama.
October 18: Autumn at Eagle Creek Farm — Ribbon cutting at 12:45 p.m.; open house and vendor market from 1–5 p.m.
October 18: Benefit/Memorial Ride in Loving Memory of Michelle and in Support of Domestic Violence Awareness — Ride begins at Sweet D’s Family Café at 2 p.m.
October 18: Harvest Festival — Sponsored by Wooley Springs Baptist Church, 4–6 p.m. Limestone County Night of Bands: October 19, 2026, 6-8 p.m. at Cavnar Field at East Limestone High School
Storytelling Festival: October 22-24 Athens State University Merchants Alley Happy Hour Music Series: October 23, 2026, 5:30-7 p.m. at Merchants Alley Make A Way’s Autumn Adventure: October 24, 2026, 2-4 p.m. at Limestone County Sheriff’s Rodeo Arena
October 24: Hometown Harvest — Sponsored by Main Street Mercantile, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
October 24: Bluegrass Night at the Barn — Sponsored by The Homeplace Events & Lodging. Food trucks begin serving at 4:30 p.m.; concert begins at 5:30 p.m. Make A Way’s Fall Festival: October 30, 2026, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the home of Henry and Marsha White Merchants Alley Happy Hour Music Series: October 30, 2026, 5:30-7:00 p.m. at Merchants Alley
October 31: Café 53 Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting — 10 a.m.
October 31: Hallelujah Festival — Sponsored by Piney Grove Baptist Church at Ardmore Town Park, 5–7 p.m.
Christmas Open House November 20-22
By: Stephanie Reynolds
Athens-Limestone Tourism Association
