Late September and October are my two favorite months ... or at least they were when I was living in the Northeast. It's a little different down South, because summer extends into the fall and we often feel the heat even in October.

I don't look forward to fall like I used to, but last Saturday, I actually did have that feeling come over me. I woke up, walked out to my front porch and it was actually brisk. Of course the overcast sky probably had more to do with it than anything, but I was happy.

I had some coffee on the front porch, felt the breeze and decided I was going to skip the gym and hit the roads. I took a nice, slow two-mile run outside. While I do work out, and run, on a regular basis, it had been a long time since I had run outside.

And there's nothing like it.

When I was younger, still living in New York, I craved those long fall runs down the country road on which I lived. The air was clear and crisp, and it often felt too brisk until I got a quarter mile down the road and warmed up, only to have a most pleasant and comfortable run.

I would admire the gorgeous fall foliage that surrounded me as if I were running through a tunnel of red, orange, yellow and green.

Hiking was also a favorite fall pastime of mine when I lived up north. Again, the weather was perfect and you can't beat the fall foliage in the Adirondack Mountains, unless of course, you feel like taking a Sunday afternoon drive into New Hampshire.

As I recall, the less-than-two-hour drive to New Hampshire was a perfect way to spend a weekend afternoon. Stopping for lunch and indulging in some New England clam chowder or even just a cup of hot chocolate on the way home was icing on the cake.

I love to eat, but I especially love to eat in the fall, and I can blame that on biology and human nature. As our bodies begin to prepare for winter, they automatically start craving those yummy comfort foods. We do, after all, have to have enough fat on our bodies to make it through the long winter!

I cook more in the fall to fulfill my cravings for tasty homemade soups, macaroni and cheese, casseroles and other comfort foods that stick to my ribs.

And there's nothing better than chowing down on some junk food while watching fall football. Last weekend, home alone and bored out of my mind, I called my brother, only to learn he was in the middle of cooking chicken wings, nachos and garbage bread. He was having friends over to watch the game.

Boy, was I jealous. If I could have flown home for the afternoon I know I would have.

In a few weeks, my brother will be waking up extra early on a Saturday morning to enjoy the Adirondack Balloon Festival in Glens Falls, N.Y. -- a fall favorite in the area -- and I'll be jealous again.

I will, however, get back at him when I'm at the Jack Daniel's Barbecue festival next month -- wearing a T-shirt and eating some of the best barbecue in the world.

While I tend to crave savory snacks more so than sweets, in the fall, there's nothing better than a warm apple pie, fresh out of the oven. Apple orchards are plentiful where I'm from, so the guilt of eating that sweet treat was always lessened by the pure exhaustion I felt after a long day of apple picking.

Speaking of apple picking, the cider and the cider donuts -- similar to the Celebration donuts people rave about around here -- are second to none up there, and definitely one of my favorite fall treats.

I have tons of happy memories surrounding autumn; and I miss a good, brisk northern fall. In fact, sometimes I miss New York so much this time of year I wonder if I should move back.

Oh wait, in order to get that true fall season back in my life it would mean I would have to trade in my extended southern summer for that long, dreary, treacherous northern winter.

Forget about it!

-- Sadie Fowler is a staff writer for the Times-Gazette. She can be reached at (931) 684-1200, ext. 214, or by e-mail at sfowler@t-g.com. This column is scheduled to print every Thursday.