Hints of Autumn

It is such a safe little corner, this place I go to each morning. I can sometimes see the weary moon through the window or hear the last calls of the owl as I sit in my overstuffed chair with coffee and watch as the day breaks, unsealing the unknown pieces of my life. It is a curious time, this beginning of, yet another day. On this particular morning, I think of my dad; it would be his 93rd birthday. I smile as I remember how he would joke that his birthday was celebrated throughout the town with a fair and festival and how, as a child, I must have believed him. Mostly, I remember that he could ‘fix’ things, my bike, later, my car, and many times, my life. Happy birthday, dad…wish you were here. October, however, is here. It is one of my favorite months of the year. The Full Harvest Moon showed us its majesty, gumbo weather is on the way, and Golden Rods are soon to cascade over the little fence Matt and Drew built years ago around Elizabeth’s butterfly garden (thanks Miss Leah for the inspiration). The Golden Rods will flower soon and provide a spicy nectar for my bees, happiness swarms and brims. I will take a picture of this small and wonderful spot in my yard and my thoughts will leave the day for a while and return to my parent’s house in autumn with my little boys in corduroy pants and little navy caps that snapped. Not sure why, but that will happen. Somehow, the hints of autumn cause nostalgia. With the thermometer reading 89, it may seem impossible, but if you listen carefully to the distant whispers of the wind, you will know that the season is changing; summer is leaving, and autumn is slowly and muskily rolling in. The squirrels, by now, have eaten my pecans, the leaves on the Crepe Myrtles are turning orange and brown and beginning to fall, and if you are outside early, you can feel this elusive change. I hope this season of pumpkin spice and colorful foliage stays a while for it is a busy time in the garden and in the home, time to put garlic cloves in the ground, scatter lettuce seeds, and put a fat orange pumpkin at our doors as we whisk away the summer. Allow me to close with an autumn memory, something so sweet and simple, something that technology has, unfortunately, taken… When my children were little, my dad would call me (on the land line), to let me know The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown would be on TV, making sure they did not miss this holiday tradition…it is the little things I miss the most. Pam Shensky Berry Tales October 1, 2023