Whenever October comes around, I always get that cozy, time-to-slow-it-way-down feeling — the same feeling that fills me when I sip pumpkin spice chai tea, one of my favorite drinks of the season.

I can’t help but take a deep, calming breath.

The flurry of summer activities and jam-packed travels abroad have passed. The back-to-school noise has quieted. There’s finally a break in our family birthdays; two of my three daughters have birthdays in August and the next one isn’t until January.

For me, this time of year offers a welcome lull between a whirlwind summer and the wonderful craziness that Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year’s/my oldest girl’s birthday brings.

It’s that small window where the holidays are still far away enough I don’t feel the pressure to start preparing, but close enough it makes me a little giddy with anticipation. It’s just right.

Like a warm embrace, October really speaks to my soul.

While we may not have the fun of boots-and-scarf-and-sweater weather or the beauty of fall foliage in fantastic, fiery hues, there are so many other reasons to love this time of year. (As I wrote in a past column, Halloween and candy corn top my list.)

Among them: pumpkin and apple everything, the aroma of cinnamon in the air, football games, craft fairs and the promise of family get-togethers and feasts. My girls love the extra snuggles that come with the crisper mornings and quicker nightfalls.

Fall is also when a sense of order is restored in my home. Our carefree summer schedule has given way to a more structured one. My family of five has since settled back into our normal weekday routines: work, school, homework, chores and karate classes or piano lessons, with a sprinkling of doctor’s appointments, random errands and home organization projects — still all quite manageable.

The predictability is comforting.

I’m enjoying this moment while I can, while it’s OK to take your time and go at an easy pace, like thick caramel drizzled over an apple — another autumn appeal. It’s a much-needed breather I don’t take for granted because I know what’s coming in the months ahead.

Before long it will be a whole new season and I’ll be sipping candy cane-infused hot cocoa with marshmallows. But first, October.

“She Speaks” is a weekly column by the women writers of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Reach Zenaida Serrano at zserrano@staradvertiser.com.