Reflection on the Season (part 1)

Ah, fall. It is so officially fall for me now. All of the big landmarks have been met. The apples are ripe (oh, lordy, how I love fresh crisp apples and all I can do with them.) and the nicer farms in the area are picking them by hand, choosing the most ripe, juicy fruits and boxing them up in ridiculously large crates bound for cider presses, mostly. I am even now, plotting my trip to the orchard to abscond with a yet to be determined quantity of free apples. It's what I do. There is ONE tree in the whole orchard that bears Granny Smith. You can bet your bejeezus that me and that tree have a date before the cider boys show up.



The leaves here are turning - have been for the better part of a month, but now the big maple tree outside of my front door has the prettiest little splashes of Sugar Maple Red popping up at it's crown, and some of the ends of the longer branches. The oaks are starting to turn golden, and the little patches of forest around here are starting to get really pretty.



Lake Michigan is fighting off winter as best she can - arguing with the shoreline in massive proportions with the large fall storms starting to blow over her vast expanse. I always feel bad for the ore freighters on Lake Superior around this time of year. Neither lake is one that I personally would want to mess with, but Superior is .... well, Superior. Deep, vast, and dangerous. I hear she's fighting with storms and swells growing and crashing waves too. Nature's way of saying 'get ready kids, here it comes'.



And before we know it, the end of October will be here, heralded by our precious kiddos. Dressed up for Halloween, begging for candy. I swear, this is going to be the year we have an old fashioned kid's halloween fiasco. I'm thinking bobbing for apples, hay ride, pin the nose on the pumpkin - all the oldies & goodies. Stay tuned. It's just getting started.