I had goose bumps this morning.



This perturbed me, especially as I was wearing a fleece shirt, long pants, and socks.

Wool socks.



I rarely wear socks.



Consider it a sign that the seasons are really, undeniably changing.



Short of bundling up in layers or curling up in the fetal position in front of the TV, what’s a Tacoma person to do to appreciate the change?



My favorite thing to date is to hit the trails at Point Defiance Park.



Right now they’re in the perfect condition, damp enough not to cause asthmatic wheezing from dust, but not yet so wet that lake-lets and baby rivers soak my SmartWool. Get the feet going, and the cold disappears.



And what I especially love is that while the plodding of my feet acts like a sound backdrop filling my ears, the smells of fall fill my nose. As the season progresses, the sound grows crunchier from leaves underfoot, while the trails grow lighter from less leaves up above, and the smells develop like a fine wine, a sort of sweet, earthy, fresh Northwest-ness that’s a lot easier to experience than to describe.



It’s like wool socks for the soul: a comfortable change that seems a little weird at first, then feels so right. — Jessica Corey-Butler



[Point Defiance Park, 5400 N. Pearl St., Tacoma, for trail map, check out parkstacoma.org/page.php?id=239\">www.metro parkstacoma.org/page.php?id=239]