Aromatic, Lovely, Wonderful FALL!

Fall 2008

I did a little work outside this afternoon. I put away lawn chairs, spread around a few pumpkins, swept down some major cobwebs (didn't get them all!) and put away summer's porch display.

Now we are on to the mellow colors of fall and the leaves have begun their transformation to the glorious glow of autumn.

Tonight, I had to run an errand, and when I stepped out the door, I stopped for a minute to breathe in the pungent aroma of fall. I don't know for sure if you know what I mean, but I hope you do.

Since there was a hard frost last night, we have now got the ripe, full, fall fragrance that I love. Somewhere in the distance, leaves were burning, and that only added to the perfection of a smell I've never, ever seen recreated ANYWHERE. You know they say it's always darkest before the dawn, but there's something else, it's always more fragrant before the winter.

Crops all around us are in their fullness, ripe, ready, drying (but not quite dry) and smelling wonderful! There's the smell hanging in the air of the combine that just drove by, on its way to another field of soybeans ready to cut, and in the distance, I can hear the farm truck being shifted through its gears, heading to the field in its wait for the golden beans to drop into the red wooden box on the back!

The grass, relieved now to be done with the vigorous season of growth, is now resting and relaxing, enjoying cool fall rains, rinsing it to a dark green, cool to the touch and wonderful to look at.

A few golden, curly leaves--early droppers--dot the emerald grass, as nature's perfect accent to its beauty. There is so much to love about fall: the crisp, cool days, perfect cloud formations in the bluer skies, shorter days and cozier nights, apples and colorful mums, shocks of corn and sheaves of wheat. There are harvest moons and scurrying squirrels: but don't overlook that invisible background scent, a unique aroma that is fall!