stephanieraffelock
Oct 18, 20152 min
And it did. The rains came on the heels of a hot, smoky, too dry summer that had over stayed her welcome. And with the rains came the inspiration and promise of autumn. On that last day of summer, the mercury rose to 90 degrees. My lips couldn’t soak up enough Burt’s Bees. The dog lay sprawled on the cool, hardwood floor, not really interested in walking our usual trail, dusty from the months of unrelenting heat. On that very last day, after I returned from the mailboxes, I began to think about what I would do with autumn.
I thought about apple butter simmering for three days until it became thick and brown, the spices permeating the air,
I moved quickly, stealthily into the autumn promise, knowing that the announcement my neighbor Sandra had given me was true and certain. By Friday, I’d collected apples–honey crisps, red delicious and gala, for the large stainless steel pot where later in the week they would begin their transformation. I planted peppers in the remaining containers on the front porch and I defrosted chicken for the soup I would make on Saturday morning.
What if the rains didn’t come? What if it was another false alarm? What if autumn was cancelled this year and we were doomed to live only summer from now on? Oh I can hear the climate change deniers now, telling me this would somehow be good for business, that it would increase the bottom line. But the rains came and washed all those thoughts away. Another fall. Another change of seasons, and I was grateful and prepared to celebrate.
Friday night my husband came downstairs excited. “Come on,” he said as he pulled me by the hand. He took me outside
On Saturday, chicken soup simmered on the stove. A basket of apples sat on the chair awaiting their mission in life. The fireplace warmed the chilly living room and outside the ticking of rain on the grape arbor leaves sang the new season into being. It’s here. It came with flare and fanfare. I will never grow tired of the changes, the anticipation of the shift.
It is as if everything around me, everything inside of me relaxed. Last night found my husband and I sitting on the covered front porch in the dark. I wrapped a blanket around me. The dog lay down between us. And all of us listened to the rain, tilted our heads toward the sky, breathing in the time of decay and shedding that autumn brings, saying goodbye to a summer whose very last day was behind us now. Oh for the love of the seasons. Oh for the love of change.