Fall is Here at Home

It's Fall —at our home, at least as the weather here in Nashua, NH, finally is starting to feel and look more autumnal. By the way, that word (autumnal) was in a recent issue of Yankee Magazine, about fall in New England. So, a perfect choice to use here.

Fall decos🎃🌻 went up outside our apt a couple weeks ago before the recent Labor Day weekend, traditionally considered the end of summer. Summer temps were unusually high for New England this year, so thinking cooler was definitely on my mind. Here's the 10-day forecast for Nashua, NH. Maybe wishful thinking helped just a little ?

Temps were still in the high 80s and near 90 when theses all came out of hibernation from a tub in the storage unit, after all, isn't that where seasonal decos go? At least that's where happens here. Thankfully, the storage unit is on the same floor as our apt, just a walk down the hallway. There's no garage storage in the underground parking area.

Of course, regular readers of this blog may already have seen most of these decos in autumn posts for several years. There have been some slight yearly variations, but not many.

My decorating plan was to replace most of these with new decos from the local Dollar Tree, where nearly all were purchased over the years. When, I found out that the taller scarecrows were still being sold, only now cost $1.25 each, the old ones would do just fine, once again. Some of the smaller scarecrows were not even available this year.

So, the old saying, If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It worked for my decorating plans, once again.

Curious about the origin of that ↑ phrase, I did some online sleuthing and found out this idiom has only been documented since 1977, although many believe that it's much older than that.

Pres. Carter & Bert Lance

It's said to have originated in the USA in the 20th century attributed to Thomas Bertram Lance, known as Bert Lance, a close adviser to President Jimmy Carter during his 1976 campaign. Lance was director of the Office of Management and the Budget in Carter's cabinet. In May 1977, he was quoted using the phrase in the newsletter of the US Chamber of Commerce.

While Lance certainly popularized the phrase, it's believed to have originated as a colloquial phrase in southern states years before his celebrated use. However, it began, within a few short years, if it ain't broke, don't fix it became so established as a part of the language that it's become a cliché.

So now you and I, once again know, the rest of the story; you're welcome too.

Your turn—ready for cooler weather in your area?

(If you live in CA and nearby states, hopefully the dual issues of extreme heat and rolling blackouts will be improving soon.)