It's that time of year when the sky is at its bluest blue in these parts. I've been to a lot of places, and I can honestly say that there is not a blue sky to match or outdo the October sky that we get in upper Northeast Tennessee. In my version of heaven, this is always my sky - brilliant and achingly beautiful. This earth gives us just a one-month snippet of this heaven, but oh what a month it is!
As you can see, our trees are just slightly turning (look at that sky!). We did go for a drive recently, and much higher up in elevation, there are some gorgeous colors. But here in the valley, we're still quite green but things are starting to turn!
One thing I've always loved this time of year is when leaves begin to collect under the trees. To some people it represents raking, which is apparently either a loved or hated task, there doesn't seem to be any in-between feelings about raking leaves! As you can see, the leaves that are still on the trees are mostly green, but we are getting a few that are gathering now. I'm hoping that for Halloween our yard is in full color and the weather cooperates so we can be outside most of the day. Scroll past the next three pictures for continued narrative! I got carried away with leaves on the ground pictures, apparently.
Did you notice the light in some of the above pictures? They were taken during early mid-day (is that a thing?? Like say around 1 p.m. or so . . .). The Autumn light has such a different tilt. It's funny, too, because parts of our yard can be bathed in sunlight and the rest in constant shade this time of year. It's science, that's all, but it still fascinates me how that works. I'm either very easily entertained, or it's amazing science, not sure which! Either way, the slant of the sun this time of year keeps me entertained for weeks on end.
Love my little Autumn is in the air sign. It greets you as you come up our long driveway and is tucked into one of our corn fodder stacks made by my dad from our own garden corn stalks. I cannot believe what they charge for a large corn fodder stack these days. I'd never pay that kind of money. If we ever don't grow corn, I just won't bother having the fodder stacks! No way am I forking over $20 for one of those! And we have several, so it would be a costly, perishable decoration.
It's been an odd year, for sure, and I know that I'm not alone in feeling that. Usually, the tide of the year begins turning with our annual trek to the local county fair in July. A tour of the arts and crafts and food exhibits, followed by a funnel cake marks a significant shift in time for me. It has always signaled that the best of summer is yet to come because that trip to the county fair indicates that Autumn is soon to follow. It's a rite of passage each year. It marks time, the indication that our annual breakfast downtown at one of our historic churches is within reach in just a little over two months. And that breakfast is the tradition of a comforting Autumn morning out with family. There's good food, followed by a trek around town to see the scarecrow displays, then a quick trip to go through the art exhibit in one of the wings of our historic hotel, and then, finally, a stroll through the antique mart. We did not get to do any of those things this year, and, while I count my blessings that we've all remained healthy and still have jobs (I TRULY am grateful for that), my heart missed those things terribly. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has mourned lost traditions this year.
But Halloween is coming up! There will be a whopping six of us gathering for the day. We are within each other's bubble of living during the pandemic times, but we will still be careful to social distance for the day. I'm so very hoping that the weather will cooperate. I'm in the mood for a pitfire (it will be the first one of the year, can you believe that??), although I've struggled with the menu. I still cannot decide whether to do breakfast foods, or chili with all the fixings (it is Crocktober, after all), or hot dogs and baked beans (vegan dogs for me and my husband, of course). We'll see what we end up with in the end! Craving pecan pie, too.
I'm off to scramble some eggs to go with some vegan sausage and toast. It's chilly this morning, in the low 40s with a nice warm-up today and tomorrow. Friday turns cold again with highs only in the 50s, but then we move back up to the 60s, which, as you know by now, is my sweet spot. If it stayed between 60 and 65 degrees year round, I would be thrilled.
I'm still putting pumpkin spice creamer in my coffee these days, my drink of choice at the moment. It'll stay that way until the day after Thanksgiving when I magically switch over to other creamer flavorings such as eggnogg, peppermint, gingerbread, etc. I pretty much like all of them, but then I'm not a picky eater. Blessed Wednesday to you! Tomorrow begins Friday Eve, which is pretty much the start of the weekend!
1 comment:
It's a shame that covid has ruined so much. Some states are locking down again which won't stop the spread...at best it will slow it down, making it longer to reach 'the end' and causing more collateral damage than the virus itself. If it were not an election year none of this would be happening. We'd treat it like we've done all the other corona viruses in the past...we get novel flu viruses and never go into lock down. Viruses don't kill people, it's the secondary infections they get, like pneumonia that kill people. And the same people at risk for death from the flu are at risk for death from covid, so it makes no sense to have two sets of risk reduction.
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