There is soup now - lots more soup. Woolen hats and sweaters with only a rare sighting of bare feet outside these days. A fire in the wood stove nearly every night now. Leaf pile jumping. Tightening up of housing being made - in both pasture and home. And with these full days - darkening as they are - we find ourselves all tucked into our respective beds a little bit earlier, with down comforters and flannel sheets. The slipper basket lives by the wood stove now, in use all day.
Autumn used to be my least favorite - I was always so sad to see the summer end. But the more years that pass, I find myself falling in love a little bit more, each time it comes around. Yesterday, clad for the first time in the wool hat and gloves I pulled from the bottom of the basket, I raked leaves from the big old maple trees in front of the house. Offering shade all summer long under which the children played and we took a break from the work of the day. Now, the leaves are gathered into the large piles which will be jumped in for a few more weeks yet, before we move it all to the garden. There, it'll cover the soil beds that need some rest and protection from the winter elements. And as cliche and obvious as it all sounds, it felt beautifully symbolic of just what's happening this time of year, and why I'm falling in love with it so. It cannot be a summer party of sunshine and sand every day, now can it? Too tiresome, that would be. No, this time and ritual of preparing to rest is just what I'm learning to love about this time of year. There's still much work to be done, but it's all in preparation for the nestling in that is to come. It's a lovely exhale into home.
