One More Time

Something magical happens every year in the north. The crops give up their harvest, the birds migrate south, and the ground gets covered with layers of colorful leaves. We have been busy preparing for the winter. Yard furniture and grill have been moved to the garage, bulbs are planted, and the leaves have been mulched….and mulched….and mulched…and mulched. We have a lot of trees and have never, ever bagged and discarded them. Every year my husband mulches the leaves as they fall. It pays off with the greenest lawn in the neighborhood every spring. No need for additional fertilizing or reseeding.

Our crab apple tree was filled with visiting robins as they made their way south and is still covered with tiny apples waiting for spring. As I did my final pruning of my plants and shrubs, I found some beautiful flowers blooming, as though the plants wanted to give up their blooms just one more time. The peace rose my sister gave me years ago was spectacular. It was a great time to reflect on all the wonderful adventures we have had over the year and to look forward to some cold weather adventures.

We decided to do our own, “one more time” event and got in a round of golf at our favorite course. We booked an afternoon T-time, but half way through realized that the shadows were really quite long and the ball was hard to find. I was very grateful to a dear friend that shares found balls with me, since I lost three in the shadows. The Bark River runs adjacent to the course and the muskrat were very busy pulling roots and twigs to get ready for the cold weather.

This winter, I plan to reach out to my Polish heritage and try some of the old traditional recipes I remember from my mother’s and grandmother’s kitchens. I also have some outdoor activities planned…more on that later. But today, I plan to watch the snow fall, pet my old wonderful dog, and get the house ready for Thanksgiving. Enjoy my autumn pictures.