The
days are gettin’ shorter, the air and skies more clearer, and the temperature a
bit milder with the passin’ of each day. Muscadines and pears are ripening; the
second cuttin’ of hay is underway, and best of all, the kids are back in school.
Summer wanes, folks. Summer wanes.
Now, that’s not an entirely bad thing,
either.... unless’n you happen to be one of those folks that live to be on the
lake or at poolside, or.... you’re one them kids what’s back in school. LOL
The end of summer, though, means
Friday nights spent pullin’ for your local high school football team, listenin’
to the marchin’ band, and makeshift suppers from the stadium’s concession
stand. SEC football on Saturdays, where you pull for ‘your’ team regardless of
how good, or bad, a season they’re a havin’. Roll Tide Roll!
The leaves have already started to
turn, and before you know it, the mountains hereabouts will look as colorful as
a bowl of Fruity Pebbles cereal. And, with Fall comes Praters Mill, the Apple
Festival, and Coker Creek’s Autumn Gold Festival.... handmade crafts,
toe-tappin’ bluegrass music, cloggin’, and hot apple cider. Also, comes the
annual trek to Burt’s Pumpkin Farm to pick out a pumpkin or two, take a hay
ride, and eat a hot fried apple pie. And then, the next thing you know, it’ll
be time for the fair.... brightly-lit thrill rides, carnies with their
‘odds-stacked-against-you’ games of chance, blue cotton candy, caramel apples,
and livestock exhibits.
Did you realize this past Saturday was
openin’ day of dove season? Hunters in shorts and camo t-shirts were posted
along the edges of tree lines or by well-positioned round bales of hay in open
fields, shotguns at the ready, watchin’ for the most acrobatic, had-to-hit
birds that ever flew over a millet field, and by all accounts, the bird count
was pretty good, this year. And before you know it, it’ll be deer season....
hunters in head-to-toe camouflage, blaze orange safety vests, headed out to
hunting camp. Lawd, I can almost taste the deer tenderloin and biscuit already!
Oh, and let’s not forget Halloween....
black cats and witches, Jack O’Lanterns, Trick or Treatin’, and spook
houses.... nor Thanksgiving, either.... turkey and dressing, pumpkin pie,
collegiate football rivalries, and the MACY’S Thanksgiving Day Parade.
A Cataloochee Valley Bull Elk |
Crisp,
cool mountain air, flannel shirts that smell of wood smoke and the outdoors,
big breakfasts of biscuits and gravy, pancakes and bacon washed down with
steamin’ hot coffee, bluebird days spent hiking the Southern Highlands or
simply sittin’ in the sunshine readin’ a good book, hearty suppers of homemade
chili and cornbread, followed by S’mores and scary tales told around a
cracklin’ campfire that glows a gorgeous red.... that’s what Fall is all about.
Like I said before, folks.... Summer’s
waning, and Fall is on its way.
Awesome post cuz!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much!
ReplyDelete