A year ago: https://mwilliamsart.com/64days/2024/10/1/september-22-2024. Every fall, I do the same thing: I buy mums. Big, beautiful, full of promise — the colors I love most. Deep burgundy, golden yellow, and that perfect burnt orange that feels like autumn itself. They look so happy on the porch for a while, bursting with life, like they know they’ve arrived at the season’s grand finale.

And then… slowly… inevitably… I kill them. Every. Single. Year.

I start out with the best intentions — water, sunshine, care — but this year, life got especially busy. Between work, school, and everything in between, watering the mums wasn’t exactly top priority. Some days it would rain, and I’d think, “Perfect, I’ll water them tomorrow.” Then tomorrow would come and go, and the mental note would disappear just as quickly as the rain did.

Still, I can’t resist buying them again every year. Maybe it’s hope. Maybe it’s habit. Or maybe it’s the simple joy of that fleeting burst of color before the frost arrives — even if I know how the story ends.

Either way, next fall you’ll find me doing it all over again — cart full of mums, optimism fully restored.