Last month at this time we were beginning the search for a wedding dress.

We found it the first day.

Three different stops and the third time was the charm – my daughter found the ‘one.’ Or, more precisely, her best friend Katelyn found it. After trying on a couple dozen dresses, it was down to the final two – my daughter Ally was a little torn but each time she put on the one Kate picked out for her, you could just tell. She would go back to the other one and it wasn’t the same. When she came out of the dressing room in ‘the one’ it simply took your breath away.

No tears fell, but I think the four of us in the wedding dress shopping party all got a little misty eyed when we knew she had the one. Now we just have to wait until it comes in; whatever alterations need to be made won’t happen until next year.

And speaking of next year – it is now less than a year until that October 2019 wedding date; all of a sudden it is getting very real. Sometimes I start to hyperventilate just thinking about it all but I am sure that’s part of the process.

The year will go by fast, especially considering every year now seems to be flying by more quickly than the one before.

We were talking in the newsroom recently about how we could possibly be in November already. Didn’t we just have the Fourth of July? Didn’t the new school year just start?

Of course, once November hits, it’s all over. The last two months of the year are a total blur, what with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, the endless holiday music, more candy and treats in the office than any of us need … you know the drill.

We would love to fit in a trip back east to see the family soon but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards for 2018. Besides, anytime between now and the end of the year we’d likely run into snow, sleet or freezing rain and spend most of our vacation slipping, sliding and shivering. We are looking at a visit next May, hopefully after all the snow has melted and before the summer humidity sets in.

Even though we just got through it, October has always been one of my favorite months; usually cool, with the leaves turning, there’s just something about October that takes me back to my childhood. There were days when the whole family would go out after church on Sundays to get in the wood for the winter; my dad with the chainsaw and the rest of us carrying the cut wood to stack it in the back of the pick-up. I am sure my brother and I complained way too much about having to help but we sure did love sitting in front of the fireplace on those cold winter mornings to warm up. Looking back on it from the perspective of an adult, I can certainly see the value in those trips – it was a unique version of quality family time, as we were taking part in a process that would ultimately benefit us all.

This time of year makes me nostalgic, not just for the wood gathering episodes but also for some of the fun things we got to do in the fall as kids, from raking up a yard full of leaves and then jumping in the pile to helping make apple cider at harvest festivals.

Late October-early November is also when upstate New York, I feel, is at its prettiest, the fall colors are on display and the air is crisp and clean. Where I grew up, that wasn’t just a saying; you could actually feel the crispness in the air and you could breathe deeply and inhale nothing but freshness.

No time to breathe deep now, though; just dive in and get ready for the blur that’s about to begin.

Marg Jackson is editor of The Escalon Times, The Oakdale Leader and The Riverbank News. She may be reached at mjackson@oakdaleleader.com or by calling 847-3021.