There is a chill in the homestead air
Posted by: TammyIt seems to happen each fall. I have this desire, this deep seated need to stock pile and stash food and goods. I’m like one of those squirrels that chatter at me from the trees, running around grabbing nuts and stashing them for winter. It must be a gene I have. The cool weather activates it. I won’t be satisfied until the pantry is full and I feel like I can weather any good Nor’Easter that blows up the coast, my family warm, safe and fed until spring comes.
I’ve been so busy canning up the local harvests. Seeing those colorful jars, filled with the fruit (and veges) of my labors is deeply satisfying. Every time I open the can, I am carried back to the day I prepared it and rejoiced in the musical pinging of the lids as they sealed. I taste the peaches and think to summer when the boys and I picked them together. I smell the spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove and remember the special time I spent with the boys as we peeled, cut and prepped as a family. Satisfaction and contentment. It’s a sweet thing.
As much as I hate to see summer end, I do enjoy fall. Here in New England, God removes the green veil from the forests and treats us to the hidden colors of the maples, birches and hickories in a way that only The Maker can do. The air becomes so much more dry and cool, allowing me to work the stone raised beds in my garden with more comfort. I also begin to work on splitting my wood for maple sugarin’ season. The physical labor in the crisp air is enjoyable again.
I also begin to look forward to days inside. Once the harvests are taken in, the wood is split and the pantry is well-stocked, I can begin to think on quilting, making Christmas gifts and hibernating in my ‘nest’ as it were. I will have enjoyed another year, another set of seasons in my life and I think of Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
“For everything there is a season and