October Bliss...

Four Pumpkins

     ...October already!  The days are warm and the nights are definitely chilly.  But it isn't quite time for Halloween.  Mid-October only now is beginning to hint at the ghoulish haunting season.  The full moon had light gray clouds slowly moving across its pale face as it stared from an inky sky. As folks settled down for the evening, resting before the next work day prods them along, the town grew quiet except for the crickets' nightly concert.  I am holding onto that quietude.  It is one of the reasons I so love autumn.  Such a short season as each moment, each sound, and each aroma on the air must be savored.  Earlier today I was shopping for scented candles with the hope of capturing the perfumes of fall.  Already the holiday scents had taken overtaken the fall fragrances from the store shelves.  Everything smelled so artificial. Returning home empty-handed, I harvested some of the last handfuls of aromatic herbs from Le Petit Jardin.  Freshly cut fennel took the prize as I realized that its anise scent was what I had been seeking.  My kitchen was soon filled with with the heady aromas of freshly cut basil and fennel.  How could any artificial candle hope to compare to those wonderful green perfumes? Once the snows take over and the garden is done for the season, some of the pine scents will be tolerable.  So far, pumpkins have replaced apples in all the decorations.  The poor taste of Halloween decorations is popping up everywhere.  Sounds have all taken on a little scarier tone.  Wind-chimes sound a bit ominous at night as the breeze rustles dry leaves along the roads.  I'll take my pumpkins as more of a bountiful Thanksgiving decoration, thank you.  No carved grimacing faces here!
        A blustery day with on-again/off-again sunshine, the day was a fine example of autumn.  The day started out chilly, but eventually the air warmed up.  It made one want to stay outside as long as possible. Now if I could just get the squirrels to stop digging in my geranium container!  Surveying the front yard, I could see that they have virtually decimated the grass.  Another sigh of a rough winter ahead!  So far, the basils have not conked out.  But the day is fast approaching when they will be zapped by Jack Frost.  Though we should be seeing peak color in the autumn leaves by now, a lot of leaves are still green.  Winds and rain are shaking loose the dry leaves and whisking them down the roads.  I have stocked up on Holy Basil to help me when there are more gray days than sunny ones.  It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is nearly here.  Some art projects are rapidly approaching and I am struggling to finish up in time.  Money and time...a friend once said if you have the money you don't have the time, and if you have the time you don't have money.  I am beginning to agree with him.  Ah, but somehow I will make it for the deadline.  I usually need that kind of pressure to make myself finish anything.  
       And so, after another cup of tea, I will get back to my projects.  Another cookie might help with that, too...