The wind is blowing through my house. It comes in the back windows and goes out the front. The dog is hiding from the curtains, they keep chasing him. It smells like Autumn. On Friday and Saturday nights I can sit outside and listen to the HS footballs games. The noise carries in the air from the local school. I can tell by the roars if we're winning and the quiet when we aren't.
This is sleeping weather. Cold at night, chilly in the morning but sunny all day long. The grass isn't growing so fast but we trade our mower for rakes and fight Mother Nature (and lose). The apple orchards are in a full out frenzy as couples and kids pick their own. And it's pumpkin time, every grower has something to entice us. Hayrides, petting zoos, crafts, pony rides, corn mazes and haunted houses. Anything to get us in and before you know it you're headed home with a trunk full of doughnuts, pumpkins, cider and apples.
I love this time of year. NY gets real pretty in October and the colors are already beginning to pop. My Mom's favorite bushes go all red, Burning Bushes, she loved them and planted several at the lake. The Golden Rod's faded but the bright trees make up for it.
Life is rolling on. We got past Mom's birthday and my birthday. Next is my brother's. Then just a few more firsts. I'm not sure why they are sad days but they are. I'm hoping time eases that. Every two weeks I go up to the nursing home and visit Mom's friends, my friends now. I count faces when I walk down the hall. I need to know they're all there. Sometimes one's missing. After all they don't go there to get younger. All my faces accounted for I visit with Mom's roommate Doris and my adopted person Jean. I decorate their doors with Mom's decorations. Much better than boxing them up throwing them away. It's healing to go up, and now it's already Fall.
Halloween is everywhere, a little early but who cares, it's not s-wording yet. Cross your fingers. According to my caterpillars, it's going to be a cold cold winter. It's the perfect time to walk Watkin's Glen or Letchworth or to go to Butter Milk Falls. I'm a creepy cemetery walker. I think the headstones are beautiful pieces of artwork. The history is fascinating to me and the trees and the leaves set the scene.
I raked my first leaves yesterday. The first on the block! And this morning the first leaf removal trucks came by. Beats the heck out of bagging them. Every Fall my Dad bought apples and turned the kitchen into an apple sauce factory. He froze it and all year round we had fresh applesauce at hand. When he retired and spent winters in Florida, he always bought a bushel to take back. Those NY apples were a prized commodity in Sunny Florida. I might try my hand at applesauce this weekend, or maybe make pies. Just so I can smell Autumn in my house and savor it while it's here.
Winter isn't too far away...
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