Not long ago, we were eating dinner with our daughter Betsy and her family. Betsy, who’s a super cook, had made twice-baked potato salad, and it was so delicious.

I thought I would share that recipe with you this week. If you’ve never tried this, I say do it soon. You’ll fall in love with this recipe and end up carrying it to every cookout.

Well, the delicious summer vegetables are soon on their way out, and we’ll be ushering in the fall vegetables. This doesn’t seem possible to me. I waited all winter long (and not so patiently, I might add) for summer to get here, and it seems like it barely made it.

While I love autumn (probably spring and autumn are my favorites), it’s almost depressing to walk into the department stores and see fall and Halloween items on the shelves.

My daughter April and I were walking into Target one day not long ago, and she literally squealed with happiness over the autumn and Halloween aisles. I mean literally squealed.

It kind of took me off guard. Thinking something happened, I looked at her and asked what was wrong. She delightedly replied, “I just love fall and Halloween. It’s my favorite time of the year.”

She continued, “The colors are beautiful, the houses and leaves are beautiful, and my kids love Halloween and going trick-or-treating. It just seems cozy and warm to me, and we have so much fun.”

Autumn is beautiful. And it is fun going to the pumpkin patches, walking in the colorful, fallen leaves, and being able to sit around a warm campfire or fire pit. All of that is especially nice, and it really does bring a cozy and warm feeling to your soul, but I guess I’m not ready for it because I know that it won’t be long before the cold sets in, and I’m not a “cold, winter person.”

I haven’t always been this way, though. I remember when my family and I lived out in Black Forest, Colorado. My two sisters, my brother and I would play out in the snow forever. And we HAD some snow!

My dad would pull us on the top of an old car hood (our sled). I guess that was the only way he could get all four of us together. We had so much fun. It would be so cold, too.

Our bedroom was one that my granny and dad (but mostly my granny because she was just “like that”) had added onto the house, and it would get so cold that we would have 10 quilts all piled on top of us at night to stay warm.

Sometimes, even that didn’t seem to work. Then the next morning, we’d be so warm, we couldn’t stand to get out of bed.

We always had clean snow for snow cream, which was a “must have.” And we always had a snowman – sometimes four of them at once.

So see, I haven’t always been against the cold. However, now it’s a hassle to have to put on boots, scarves, gloves, and heavy coats just to go out and play for a bit. Then you still get cold! Oops! Guess I’m showing my age, huh?

That’s OK – I’m happy to pass on this fun to my grandchildren. I’ll stand at the window and watch them, maybe get out and take a picture or two, and then I’ll be glad to clean up their messy little boots and coats.

Oh … as you can see, I’m not ready for fall!

I want a few more months of driving with my windows down, smelling freshly mowed grass, and catching the beautiful sunsets late in the evening.