signs of the season

Apple picking with proserpia, melindaloquita, and bkleber: a lovely, misty morning spent among rain-wet apple trees at Butler's Orchard; sunlit raspberry bushes dripping with fruit. A lazy afternoon spent making pie and crocheting, cold air coming through the window, my afghan warm on my legs.

Oktoberfest celebration at Blob's Park, large helpings of sausage with larger pitchers of beer. Singing the holiday music for Camerata: rousing, joyous Latin. Cider mulled with cinnamon and ginger; apple butter on freshly-baked bread; scent of curried squash filling the kitchen.

Red-gold leaves on the trees and long-sleeved sweaters that cover my wrists as I type; long fuzzy scarves to throw over my shoulders. Furtively scribbling novel plots for November during meetings. Snuggling into bed between down blanket and flannel sheets, the cat purring on the pillow beside me.

I scraped frost off the car today, and my feet crunched on fallen leaves in the parking lot.

Autumn is my favorite time of year.