A Fall Bucket List for People Who Don’t Need Another To-Do List
I love a good fall bucket list.
Go to the apple orchard. Visit the pumpkin patch. Bake something from scratch. Take a scenic drive. Have a bonfire. Carve pumpkins. Make homemade soup. Go on a hayride. Watch every fall movie ever made while wearing a perfectly coordinated matching pajama set. Adorable.
Also? I do not need another list of things to accomplish. My actual to-do list is long enough.
So, in honor of Joy in the Fall, I decided we needed a different kind of fall bucket list.
One with absolutely no pressure to complete it.
No checkboxes.
No “making the most of the season.”
No requirement that I visit six different pumpkin patches before November.
Just a list of little ways I want to enjoy my favorite season while it's here.
So here it is:
Drink the ridiculously seasonal coffee.
Pumpkin. Maple. Caramel apple. Whatever coffee shop concoction sounds like fall in a cup. Order it. Life is too short to pretend I'm above seasonal beverages.
Buy the mums.
Will I remember to water them? That is between me, the mums, and God.
Wear the sweater even if Michigan can't commit to the weather.
It was 48 degrees this morning and somehow 72 by afternoon? Don't care. It's October. I have waited all year for these clothes.
Drive somewhere just because the trees are pretty.
No destination necessary. Bonus points if there is a coffee involved. Double bonus points if the playlist is excellent.
Take the picture.
Take pictures of the trees. Take pictures at the pumpkin patch. Take the cheesy family pictures. Take a picture of your coffee next to a leaf if it makes you happy. We have somehow decided that photographing ordinary happy things is silly. I disagree. Take the picture.
Crunch the leaf.
You know the one. The perfectly crispy leaf sitting directly in your walking path. Step on it. This is mandatory.
... Okay, apparently there is one requirement on this list.
Eat the cider donut while it's still warm.
This one needs no explanation.
Light the candle at 2 p.m.
We don't have to wait until evening. We don't need company coming over. The house doesn't need to be clean first. Light. The. Candle.
Make something that tastes like fall.
Soup. Chili. Apple crisp. Pumpkin bread. Or buy it from someone who already made it.
That counts. Actually, that counts especially if it means fewer dishes.
Spend an evening being aggressively cozy.
Blanket. Comfy clothes. Favorite show or book. Warm drink. Phone somewhere slightly out of reach. The world will survive.
Do something your kid thinks is magical.
Jump in the leaves. Pick a pumpkin. Decorate something. Bake cookies. Go outside after dark. Let him choose the weirdest pumpkin he can find.
Watch something delightfully predictable.
I don't need every movie to challenge me intellectually. Sometimes I would simply like two attractive people in a charming small town to misunderstand each other for 73 minutes before falling in love near a pumpkin. Thank you.
Say yes to something spontaneous.
An unexpected coffee. A walk. Dinner somewhere. A last-minute adventure.
Not every memory needs three weeks of planning and a shared Google calendar.
Say no to something, too.
We're enjoying fall, remember? We're not trying to win it. Notice the trees.
Really notice them. Not just when they're at peak color. Notice the first tree that changes. The bright red one you pass on your way somewhere. The leaves collecting along the sidewalk. The branches slowly becoming bare.
Fall moves quickly. I don't want to realize it was beautiful only after it's gone.
Let an ordinary fall day be enough.
This might be the one I need most. There doesn't have to be an orchard. There doesn't have to be a pumpkin patch. There doesn't have to be a perfectly curated fall adventure.
Maybe it's just a Tuesday. Maybe you're drinking coffee while answering emails. Maybe there's a candle burning next to you and a tree outside the window that's starting to turn orange. Maybe that's it. And maybe that's still worth noticing.
I think sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves to make memories that we forget we're already making them. I don't want to spend my favorite season rushing around trying to prove I enjoyed it. I just want to enjoy it.
The big traditions, absolutely. But also the coffee. The chilly mornings. The sweaters. The ridiculous decorations. The crunchy leaves. The ordinary afternoons. The little things that make me think, Yep. This is why I wait all year for this.
So consider this your official permission slip to throw away the fall bucket list.
You don't have to do all the fall things. You don't even have to do most of them.
Just pick a few things that make you happy.
And when they happen? Notice them. That's the whole list.
Well... That and crunch the leaf. Seriously.
You have to crunch the leaf. 🍂
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