THE BEGINNING OF FALL

IT IS THAT TIME OF YEAR the mornings are crisp if not almost cold. You can get in a few hours of work outside before the mosquitoes thaw out and become pests. Usually by the time they start to look for a snack, I am exhausted and in the shower anyway. The colors here are subtle. I appreciate that, having lived in New England and the Poconos where autumn sometimes screams at you… Not that I don’t appreciate all those beautiful colors, its just that I guess I like the surprise of a spot of color here and there. No one can say that autumn on the Eastern Shore is ever over-whelming! But this is a place where it is green, well, sort of, all year long. We have lots and lots of evergreens, not just the pines, but magnolias, camellias, bayberry, boxwood, holly, acuba… even the nandina and azaleas stay mostly green with hints of red to brighten them up in the winter. I like understated…

I have had azaleas blooming for over a month, and the camellias started the middle of September. Some of the phlox are still in bloom and the daisies just started on the first of October. The dogwood tree is usually the first to change color and get its bright berries. Then comes the Rose of Sharon (Althea), and then the big deciduous trees around the first of November.

Remember the song about the autumn leaves of red and gold? Well, here we have the autumn azaleas of red and the cat of gold! How’s this for autumn colors? Pumpkin and Spook came to me around this time of year… here’s Spook and Pumpkins and Punkin and potatoes! Yep, I still have potato plants… I will have a second crop of redskins… OK, maybe not too many, but a few meals worth, I am sure! I still have tomatoes. The azalea does well at holding them up.

This is also the end of the mega spider web season which usually starts in September. For about a month, these webs are EVERYWHERE! We learn to walk with our arms stretched out in front of our faces so we don’t wear the webs in our hair all day. I don’t dislike spiders, but I am not fond of webs in my face.

It is the season for apples, especially Macintosh. My dear neighbors brought me apples again this year from Maine. How I love apples and especially fresh home-made apple pie, made with honey and plenty of cinnamon. NO PHONY STUFF! The house smells so good on pie baking day. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmm. Nothing lke a nice warm slice, fresh from the over (not warmed in a microwave – I don’t even own one of them, and a cold glass of real milk on a chilly afternoon. Life is good.