THE START OF AUTUMN

The nights and mornings are starting to get crisp and chilly again.  This is the time of year I love.  I can feel the snap of cold in the air.  The changing energy is so strong.  The leaves are starting to change.  The scent of autumn is so unique.  The windows are open and the chilly air flows through the house.  I live close to I94 so there are a lot of semis rumbling by and I've discovered an odd liking for the sounds of their air brakes rumbling as they come off the freeway.

I'm already missing the longer sunlit evenings though.  The furkids don't like walking in the dark and it's getting harder to get out and walk them before it does get dark.  The positive is that I'm not awakening in the wee hours because the sun is spilling through the windows or because the furkids think it's time to get up because the sun is up.


Having moved to the Prairie a year ago, I'm missing my fall walks through the forest.  People keep telling me we have trees here, but scattered trees are not a forest and there's a special magick walking through a heavy forest canopy that can't be had here.  As I was driving to Bismarck over the weekend, the wind was blowing through the tall grasses and it reminded me of ocean waves.  In the book and movie Sarah Plain and Tall, Sarah mentions about the prairie reminding her of ocean waves and as I was driving I recalled that passage of the book and movie and understood what she meant having lived by the ocean in Virginia and Maine.  There's a field by the friends I was visiting and listening to the winds in the grasses was similar to ocean waves as strange as I'm sure that sounds.

This crisp weather already has me craving heartier meals; chili, thick soups, stews.   I relish being able to use the oven again without having to turn the air conditioning up.  Bread making is soon to commence.  Homemade pizza will start being crafted on a regular basis.  A good pizza is one thing I have not been able to find locally.  Last week I made a Canadian bacon and green pepper pizza that was quite tasty.  I tried a mac and cheese at Applebee's last week that I want to try and duplicate.  It had a wonderful smoky cheddar taste with the sweetness of the honey pepper sauce.  I also want to duplicate their beer pub pretzels.

This time of year is when I start itching to work on what use to be considered winter activities; quilting, spinning, and knitting.  I haven't made a quilt in over 10 years but have been itching for at least a year now to make one.  I want to work on learning to spin more this winter and of course work on my knitting.  I know I'll be needing thick, warm wool socks for winter so the itch to start sock knitting starts.  Since we have no yarn stores locally I'll either have to make a trip to Bismarck or Fargo to check out yarn stores or place an order so I have it on hand.  I'm starting to get the soapmaking itch too.  All activities that seem to fit well with autumn and autumn energies.