There are times when I feel that pictures speak better than words. I was walking around in my yard and snapped some photos of the color that is still there. It makes me feel peaceful and seems to tell its own story.
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Fall
It is time for Fall, the leaves are starting to change color and some have made their way to the ground. School is back in session, Christmas decorations are coming into the stores (way too early for that in my opinion), more turkeys are in the grocery stores, Fall apples are waiting in decorated paper bags, apple cider (I love apple cider) is available, and the days are getting shorter. The signs tell me that soon I should be able to pull out my scarves, jackets, and wear my really cool socks; I really do have some great decorated and handmade socks. I also have some amazing handmade moccasins. It makes me happy to wear these clothes!
Fall has always been my favorite season. It feels like there is anticipation in the air. A sort of, “get ready cause it’s coming” kind of feel. I’m not always sure what is coming, but something new is just around the river bend. 2018 has been a year of challenges for my family; because of those challenges, I know 2019 will bring with it some big changes and new directions for us. Yep, anticipation, I will have new stories brewing in October, stewing in November, and sitting on simmer in December so they can be ready for 2019.
What are you anticipating this Fall?
This is the time of year I get transported back to my childhood in upstate New York. I sat on my front door step here in Charlotte a couple of days ago and ate an apple. It tastes different in the fall as the leaves softly float to the ground. Somehow it is sweeter, crisper, more delicious.
When I was a kid I would go out to the orchard in the back of our house. Now, I had to walk through the pasture and across the creek to get to it, but those mountain apples in that unkempt orchard were the best. They were small, red, and so very sweet. Many of them were “protein apples”, meaning they had a little worm in them — you eat around that part. But no chemicals, no GMO, just an apple. The cows liked them too.
We also had a couple of winter pear trees. My father would lift my siblings and me up in the bucket of our tractor and we would pick pears in the fall and put them in bushel baskets. They would then be put in the cellar of our house and throughout the winter they would get ripe and we would have fresh fruit during the holidays. Mom would can many of those pears, too. I liked them better when you could hold them in your hand and bite into them.
I think this year, as my family gathers together, I will ask my kids what memories they are fond of from their childhood. I’d like to know what brings them back home as they sit on their front door steps, too.
Right now, I think I need to get a cup of apple cider and sit on my front door step and go back to the Catskills for a few moments. I’ll return to Charlotte in 20 minutes or so.
I LOVE the Fall!! Always have!! The cool fresh air, crisp apples, cider, sweaters, scarves, and, of course, the colors of the leaves! Love it, love it, love it!!
I grew up in a tiny community, Richmondville, New York. There are still only about 2,000 people in the village. The school, Richmondville Central School, was one main building and it housed K-12, less than 500 students in the entire school district. The brick structure had three floors and the high school was on the 3rd level. There were a couple of extra buildings for shop class and a house for home economics.
Every Fall near Halloween, there was an evening when the Volunteer Fire Department would open and they would serve powdered doughnuts and apple cider for free to the community. The big thrill, though, was the ride on the back of the fire truck. We would step on the landing and climb up onto the heavy fabric of the hoses. When there was no space left for anyone else to get on that big red machine, the driver would clang the bell and run the siren and we were off. The air was cold on our faces and nearly everyone on the ride wore a jacket with a hood and gloves. It only took about 10 trips for every child in the community to get a ride. I participated in the tradition even through high school and college. It just wasn’t Fall without powdered doughnuts, cider, and a ride on the fire truck.
It’s a simple memory and it comes back to me every October. I live in Charlotte, NC, now and although there are no October fire truck rides (that I know of), I do have to have at least one powdered doughnut and cup of cider to welcome the season!! It just wouldn’t be Fall without it.
Here are a few pictures I took on a summer trip back to Richmondville.
