This tenth month of the year is one of my favorites. Cooler air. Crisp bright days. Nights that are clear and full of starlight. The full moon seems fuller. The sun shines beams that act as golden strands, knitting morning to noon to twilight in a continuous fabric of changing colors and hues. Our Ozark hills are sometimes radiant with scarlet and yellow and orange. It just depends on how nature chooses to clothe the trees in the valleys and atop the hills.
The air. The air is so fresh and clean. I like to chug up my hill and then cling to the nearest post and draw my breath deep down into my lungs. Sweatshirt off.....stocking cap off.....the cool breeze that blows across my face feels like heaven.
Apples. October apples. In my Illinois hometown we would travel for miles to pick and buy apples that were grown along the river. Bringing them home we would tuck them away for future apple pies and apple crisp and save a few for eating right then. Precious apples, meant to be savored and not wasted.
Walnuts. My mother always went hunting for black walnuts in the fall. As they were gathered she would spread them out to dry and then hull them, cracking them open and picking out the nuts inside. Black walnuts appeared in the fudge and cakes she made. And they were precious commodities too. Just like apples.
October. A month to relish. A month to savor. A month to gather in the bounty of nature. October, a month to prepare and look ahead. But most of all, rest and enjoy to its fullest.
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