Celebrating the Season

October 26, 2008 - As the days get shorter, I find myself fighting my crazy schedule for time outdoors. Yes, I spend my weekends outside at the farmstand - but what I'm looking for is some quality, quiet, nature time. I feel a desperate urge to stock up on sunshine and fresh air before winter hits and I want to do nothing but sit by a fire and read.

On sunny days I often rush home and run over to a beautiful hike by the river, which happens to border the property where we now live. Lucky me. On one trip I carried my camera along with me and found I never wanted to turn it off. The leaves are changing now and it seems that no matter what the season, I am constantly blown away by what an incredibly beautiful place we live in. Here are some photos from my walk -

Halloween is coming up. One of the things that makes living a life centered on the land fun is celebrating the seasons. I've never been a big Halloween person, but this year, I'm just thinking of it as a seasonal celebration. It's about pumpkins, gourds, apples, cider, corn stalks, and crisp cool air. This week we went to a Haunted Hay Ride/Haunted House with Bianca and her husband Gustavo, who is celebrating his very first Halloween here in the U.S. Then last night, we had a pumpkin carving party, after which we had six awesome pumpkins AND loads of pumpkin seeds to snack on. Here are the pictures from the evening -

That's Joe's pumpkin. And yes, that's a haunted squirrel.

We're getting ready for the cooler part of fall at the stand too - we moved our workstation indoors this weekend so that Bianca and I won't freeze to death while we work. This left a little bit of open space outside, so I decided to let my decorating juices flow, and make an "Ode to Fall" display. Hoping of course, that this will inspire others to decorate THEIR homes, with OUR stuff. :)

And it worked on me. Joe and I now have a lovely fall display outside of our home. This way every time we come home, instead of thinking how miserably cold and dark it's getting, we'll think - "ah yes. Fall...."