Introspection in the Crisp Air

I love fall. I love the color change. Green is nice, but the mix of yellows, oranges, reds and browns is so uplifting and beautiful.

I love pulling out the sweaters. It’s the perfect weather to wear a sweater without having to wear a coat.

Sure, some days it rains, but the sun comes out and warms the air. So how do you spend these days?

On a crisp October morning my husband, daughter and I hop in the car and drive into Peters Township to Simmons Farm. It’s time to get a pumpkin and have a little fall fun.

My daughter, Greta, talked about taking a hayride the whole drive up. When we got to Simmons, she asked about picking a pumpkin. And when she sat on the straw for the hayride, she told me horses eat hay. She giggled as the tractor started up the hill. Then she saw the apple trees and asked to eat an apple. Then we passed the spent strawberry plants. I told Greta what they were and that perhaps we would come strawberry picking in the spring. She laughed and told me she picks strawberries in our yard. (We have wild strawberries growing in our backyard.)

She gabbed the entire way up, as a curious and precocious three-year-old will do.

As a child I would sit on the swing set and breathe in the air. I would collect interesting and colorful leaves. I would kick the monkey balls (osage oranges). I would hike into the pasture and talk to the horses, feeding them apples off the trees. I suspect Greta spends her fall days at Grandma’s house much the same way.

My mom tells us all the time that Greta has my personality. But I suspect she is a little more outgoing than I was. She wants to play with the other children at the farm. After a nibble of some kettle corn, she is ready to head into the hay maze. With help from Mom and Dad, she figures that out, then she’s dragging us into the corn maze.

How my life has changed. When I was younger, I spent the fall days in introspection or just sitting outside breathing in the cool air as I read a book. Now I entertain a little girl just discovering everything the world has to offer. Yes, I miss the former, but I wouldn’t give up these fall days for anything.