'Tis The Season!

Indian Creek Falls

The morns are meeker than they were,

The nuts are getting brown;

The berry's cheek is plumper,

The rose is out of town.

Emily Dickinson

The view from my window is deceiving! Sunshine, blue skies, trees of yellow and gold on the mountains across the valley, birds soaring high in the sky--all make up a perfect October day. However, the brisk fall winds remind us that October is a month of contrasts. One day warm and sunny, the next day a chill is in the air. The dogs are confused! They bounce out of the door expecting the warm temps of yesterday. A few minutes later a scratch at the door means "let us in, the wind is blowing us off this mountain!" This goes on all day! A cold front moved through last night bringing much needed rain and colder temperatures. Looks like a fire will feel good tonight!

I love this change of seasons that we will experience in the next few weeks as fall moves into winter. The cold fronts move in from the north, and are visible for hundreds of miles as they slowly make their way into the mountains. The dark, ominous skies forecast a change. It is energizing and exciting to watch as the winds whip through the trees and send leaves sailing across the yard and down into the hollow. It's a time we rush to save delicate flowers still blooming on the porch and secure all chairs and other loose objects that have been a part of our summer days.

Have I told you I love fall? Okay, at least a dozen times!

These are the days when Jack and Ed take a hike to Indian Creek--Jack is always awestruck with the beauty of the area. This is the month we slip away for a leisurely trip to War Eagle Craft fair, sit on the banks of the river, and have a lunch of corn dogs and ice cream. These are the afternoons when we hop on the 4 wheelers and ride across the road to Delano's mountain pastures. When we reach the summit, we stop and look back across Kenner Creek to our own house and cabins--so far away, they look like a Google map! These are the nights we have a wonderful Italian meal at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. (So good we have to take the Tiramasu home for later.) Or go to the Ozark Cafe on a Friday night for not only a good meal, but great music with Joe Villines and friends. These are the days we can linger over coffee late into the night as we visit with family and friends that have come for the weekend. And, the days when we look forward to meeting new cabin guests and renewing friendships with returning guests who all want to be here in October.

These are the days I hang out my laundry on my new clothesline just because I want to be outside and feel the breezes blow the sheets over my head. The days I refuse to listen to television and choose, instead, to pull out a book saved for just such a time. The days I sit by the window and do an extra Bible study lesson. The days I meet the horses at the fence and give them a good currying. The days we listen to the Razorback game wearing our "Hog shirts" and cheer or cry depending on the score. On one of these days, I find a reason to take a drive up Highway 103 to Green Forest and Berryville, and maybe on to Eureka Springs, alone and quiet in the car--medicine for the soul. The road is a ribbon through the mountains and valleys. At one point, you can look in the distance and see another stretch of the same highway miles away.

These are the days we pick up walnuts that have fallen in the grass, mow the yard wearing a coat, discover the turnips in the late fall garden have grown to be enormous since we last checked! And, in the evening we stop whatever we are doing,gaze across the valley and marvel at the folliage colors that have deepened since yesterday. On one of these afternoons, I pick the last roses of the summer and collect the wildflower seeds to save for next year. We stay out long enough to see a beautiful October sunset. We notice the big orange ball of the Harvest Moon as it rises over the mountains when we drive home from Sunday night church in Boxley Valley.

This is the season that, unlike summer that lingers too long, flies by too quickly. It is too soon gone. It is a season to drop everything and get out and do something!

"In October in Blue Hill the world was so pretty it set everyone in a good mood. Houses were thick with the scent of apples bubbling on stove tops, and gardens lay ripe with the flowering of good green kale."

from THE BLUE HILL MEADOWS by Cynthia Rylant