Friday Ramble - Little Ordinaries of the Season

It's small things that engage one's attention at this time of year: fallen leaves like confetti on the old wooden dock at the lake, woodland maples clothing themselves in scarlet, sunflowers inclining their heads and sending thousands of seed children out into the world, damp furrows where garden veggies bloomed and fruited.

Oak leaves on the trail have been touched by cool fingers overnight, and they rustle wonderfully underfoot in their earthy sepias and rosy creams. The beech trees in our woods are turning, and their coppery leaves fall in burnished, windblown showers. Autumn sunlight streams through the flickering overstory as though through clerestory windows, and the forest feels like a cathedral that goes on and on forever. Little seasonal ordinaries conjure a litany that is spicy on the tongue, touched with a leaf-dusty fragrance that follows us wherever we ramble.

Lines of swallows are congregating on rural telephone lines before flying south, and skeins of geese move to and fro between rivers and farm fields. Soon, the loons on our favorite lake will be calling goodbye as they head for warmer moorings. The great herons still haunt the shallows of local waterways, but they will not be far behind the loons in departing. Is it just me, or is there a restless melancholy spirit loose in the village and haunting the countryside?

It is a little cooler here this morning, and far from recent thoughts of salads and cold drinks, I find myself pondering soups and stews, corn fritters and gingerbread, the first McIntosh apples lovingly folded into a baked crumble with oatmeal, maple syrup and cinnamon. Thoughts about comfort food and culinary undertakings are a sure indication of autumn, all by themselves.

Life becomes quieter as daylight hours wane. Temperatures tumble, migratory kin leave, and the light changes - we drink every blessed thing in like wine. Gloves on our paws, and collars turned up against the wind, we ramble and ponder and feast our senses on the colors, sounds and spicy fragrances of autumn. Then we come home to tea and toast and molasses cookies at nightfall. It's all good.