Pumpkin season.

I like November in Florida. First batches of eggnog hit the stores, pumpkin spice becomes everyone's favorite coffee flavor until late December. Those few weeks between the care free oddity of Halloween and the biggest American family holiday- Thanksgiving Day, followed by Black Friday when people trample each other in stores to get a discounted toaster. On some days it gets just cool enough to wear a sweater or a vest, to feel that fresh breeze in the morning, but not too cold to make me wonder why did I ever leave the house today. It's different, it's a bit of a change. Usually we have two types of weather here. While it's mostly hot and humid, we get cold fronts from time to time, especially towards the end of the year. But we never seem to have anything in between. It can rain one moment and then everything feels dry an hour later. I like late Fall in America, because it has commotion and excitement without the pressure of Christmas. Seasonal drinks hit your favorite cafes, but not to worry, it's not December yet. I don't even know what a pumpkin spice is- is it meant to taste like pumpkin or something you add to pumpkins, but I love it. Recently I even discovered a limited edition pumpkin spice kefir in the dairy section of my grocery store, which made me think, Wow, Americans really add it to anything. I also must confess I ordered 40 servings of pumpkin spice late for my one cup beverage system. I thought to myself- this better taste as good as the one sold at Starbucks or I'm looking at a long season of drinking coffee that I don't really like. November and early December are as close to us having a change of seasons as we are going to get.  In only few weeks I'll be reminded that I don't have a family in this country, that I feel like I belong- but not really. For Thanksgiving most of my friends will travel cross-country to be with their families. For a day- all public transit will stop and most restaurants won't deliver. This is a college town for the most part- so as soon as the exams are over until January- Gainesville will turn into a ghost town again. Even on the days that buses will run, they'll cut down on hours and service area. Christmas Day, Thanksgiving are really the days I sleep through. Thankfully Americans don't celebrate too much. All they get is the one day of Christmas. In Poland- you get two. With Christmas Eve being the fancy family feast. New Years Eve is not much of a celebration in Gainesville either with the college kids gone, some people in clubs and the downtown countdown using confetti instead of fireworks at the party shutting down promptly after 12.  And once again I will be left with my thoughts about what I'm doing here, where I should be instead, how I miss home, how everyone just leaves me behind in this town and what my grand plan should be. Do I even know anymore? But for now it's November. I have to say - that pumpkin spice latte sure puts me in a good mood and I can worry about the million calories per cup on another day.