September days are coming to a close and fall will definitely be more “officially” on its way. Pumpkin season is upon us and soon it will be Halloween!
I had the windows opened yesterday and when I went to close them in the evening I could smell the first outdoor scent of a fire. It hung in the crisp air and held all the promise of Autumn. I love that smell.
When I was little, I can remember going to visit my grandparents (I was very blessed as I lived near both sets and got to see them often), on the way, there is a dip in the road and you are in a miniature valley. On the hill above stood an old farmhouse, the air would be chilly but still warm in the sun and on Sundays, when you drove past, the smell of burning leaves intertwined with the scent of a ham baking for their dinner, hung in the afternoon air. I love that smell. The air in your nostrils was just permeated with the sweet aroma of ham against the rough almost throat burning taste of leaves in the air and it was intoxicating.
It made me think of a John Updike poem I like:
Of apple peel.
The air is full
Of smells to feel-
Ripe fruit, old footballs,
Burning brush,
New books, erasers,
Chalk, and such.
The bee, his hive,
Well-honeyed hum,
And Mother cuts
Chrysanthemums.
Like plates washed clean
With suds, the days
Are polished with
A morning haze.”
John Updike – September
Goodbye September.
(Fall Wreath Image from Martha Stewart)
