Growing up the only connection I made between autumn and spiders was Halloween and that mainly due to decorations. In England, the spiders are impossible to miss come fall. While out walking at dawn the other day the dew showcased all the webs we might have missed later in the day.
Turning around you can see the little pockets of white webs laying all across the lawn. One young woman who still lives at home is sticking to the concrete til the first hard frost…
Yep. No words can explain the pure joy of pulling food right off the plant. No words necessary to explain their reaction….
After which the who-can-catch-a-berry-by-mouth game commenced.
May I present the winner….
Into the orchard this week. It is much cooler than last year this time which makes for a far more pleasant job of picking. If it was warmer we would be fighting the wasps which devoured the fruit right on the trees last year. There are two varieties of plums in great abundance – a red and blue tree. Which of these many English varieties is anyone's guess. I am always amazed at all the things I don't know. How many fascinating things there are to know.
It's actually happening now for some crops. The last bales are being moved from the fields and carrots and onions have come up. The comfortable rhythm of the farm planting and reaping is a balm during a challenging summer. There has been lots of washing and chopping and mixing. Tomorrow, a recipe to go with these.
They cut well into the night to stay ahead of the weather. Tall stalks of wheat falling into neat rows waiting to be bailed. "It's dusty on the road tonight," she apologized while we visited. "We're combining." No problem for us. Everywhere the breath of wheat as Willa Cather described:
“Everywhere the grain stood ripe and the hot afternoon was full of the smell of the ripe wheat, like the smell of bread baking in an oven. The breath of the wheat and the sweet clover passed him like pleasant things in a dream.”
"That time of day when the sun hasn't come up yet but you can already feel it coming. It's an elusive warmth, like a subtle promise whispered in your ear, and you can go on with your day knowing you've been given another chance to get it right."
– Cassia Leo
Starry Sky Journal 