Last weekend we got a brief glimpse into the cool fall weather ahead, before the heat crept back in this week for one last heat wave.

Fortunately for me, I’ll be escaping the heat this weekend with a brief trip north to my roots in New England for a family wedding. 

October in Massachusetts is basically where every desktop picture of fall foliage was ever taken.

My parents have been driving through the New England hills, full of changing leaves and cool breezes, all while sending me videos of the scenic drive.

Though I haven’t lived on the East Coast for over 10 years, each year about this time I start to miss the changing of the seasons, and yes, even shoveling the snow out of the driveway.

Living in the South definitely has its perks, but experiencing all four seasons—rather than just the two southern seasons: hot and less hot—has its perks, too.

As I kid I would hope and pray every December for the snow to start falling.

My brothers and I would perform every superstitious trick we heard of to try to make that magical white fluff fill the yard and cancel school.

We would make snowflakes out of coffee filters and hang them up all over the house, competing to see who could make the best design.

We would wear our pajamas inside out, make up snow chants and pray each night before bed that when we woke our street would be blanketed with snow.

Moving down here, we slowly had to get used to varying warm and cold Christmases, some years wearing parkas at Thanksgiving and then trading them in for shorts by the New Year.

It won’t be a snowy weekend up in New England, but the fall weather might be just enough to stir up those dreams of Jack Frost and some fond childhood memories.