Posted by Last weekend, summer was doing an extended en core performance as we had highs in the upper 80’s and touched 90. It was like that for about a week but now cooler temperatures have blown in and it is more like a typical fall for these parts.
I read other blogs and some of those people seem super excited about the arrival of fall and cooler weather. As I’ve said before, I’m not one of those people. Yes, the heat can be oppressive if you are out trying to do something but I just find something so freeing about being able to walk out onto my deck in shorts and a t-shirt and just enjoy really feeling warm. To each his own I guess.
And, if you asked me to pick between spring and fall, then it is spring in a landslide. I much prefer the season when the world wakes up to the season when the world gets ready to sleep through the winter. Yes, the leaves are pretty but I prefer the colors of flowers and birds to the dying of the leaves.
Still, fall has some good points. If you can get past the proliferation of pumpkin spice themed food and the rush to Christmas in various retail place. (No joke, I was in World Market the other day and they were unpacking and stocking shelves with Christmas stuff)
Today, we did the most traditional of fall things to do and that was head to our nearest apple orchard. Around here, nothing says fall like cider. This place is a very short drive out to the next county and I always find it fun to watch the subdivisions give way to seemingly endless fields of corn and beans now dried up and ready to be harvested. Well, maybe not endless since we are near enough to the city that a few subdivisions are mixed in with the farm land and there are the scattered “for sale” signs on fields. That makes me a little sad. I don’t think we need that many subdivisions but we certainly need farms.
For someone who really had no connection to agriculture growing up, I’ve got a strange affinity for farms and orchards. Even for farm markets like the little one we go to every Saturday. Maybe there is just some past life coming through since I know that many of my distant relatives were farmers. It could be just something about seeing the person who grew the food you are buying.
Over the years we’ve lived here, this orchard has changed quite a bit. It is also a nursery where we buy flowers in the spring but they’ve started adding new things. A couple of years ago, they set up a grill and started served hot dogs and brats and other things on fall Saturdays. The greenhouse that holds flowers in the spring is turned into seating for those who wish to eat. They also had cider slushes (the best brain freeze ever!) and caramel apples and that turned into a sweet shop/cafe that is open most of the year. There was always a little farm store with apples and cider and other assorted things for purchase. They also do pumpkins so they are busy most of the fall. This year, they added a corn roaster so they could devote the grill to hot dogs and brats but still offer the roasted sweet corn that is very popular.
Anyway, today being a nice sunny day with cooler temperatures, the place was packed. They’ve actually created a parking area in the grounds near the orchard but also had to expand and add another area across the street. They even need off duty cops to direct people into and out of the lot. We got there shortly after noon and there were very few parking places left. I’ll admit that crowds and I don’t get along but they’ve done a lot of work with organization so there is control and not chaos and we had a nice little lunch complete with a cider slush and then got some more cider from the store. Succumbing to the pumpkin theme, we also bought a pumpkin roll that looked pretty good.
No, fall is not my favorite season. But it does have it’s good days and today was one of those.
Facing Diagonal Wall 