Memories of Autumn

Autumn. Beautiful autumn. Autumn is the formal name for the fall season. It is that time of year right after summer between September and December. When I was a child, it seemed to me that the term “autumn” was used more often than “fall”. Perhaps this was due to my grammar school teachers wanting us to learn the proper name for the season. Whatever the case may be, I love to recall my memories of childhood during autumn.

Growing up in the country gave me and my siblings many opportunities to observe all the beauty that autumn offers. As kids, we were fascinated by the beautiful changing colors of the countryside. But we also enjoyed the love and experiences of life growing up in a large family in the country. For some of us siblings, these experiences included chopping and bringing in firewood, making fires in the stove and feeding the pigs. An after school autumn meal might be a pot of chicken and dumplings, baked sweet potatoes and cornbread or pinto beans and a delicious syrup cake!

On weekends, we sometimes picked up pecans in the surrounding pastures. We loved cracking them and picking out the goodies to eat. My older sisters were even able to pick up enough pecans to sell and make a few bucks. We also harvested peanuts from daddy’s garden and mama would roast them in the oven for a wonderful night time treat! On many cool nights, we made old fashioned popcorn in the skillet, and ate it as we sat around the old wood burning stove watching T.V. Some of our favorite shows to watch were Top Cat and the Flintstones. After work, daddy would sometimes surprise us kids with candy. Some nights he would bring home a giant peanut brittle or peanut pattie which he broke into several pieces to share among us. At other times, he brought candy corn, orange elephant peanuts, licorice, penny suckers, banana bikes or bubble gum. It didn’t matter what kind he brought us. We were grateful for it all! And of course, one of my fondest memories of autumn was the anticipation for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays to come. For me, these were the capstones for a beautiful autumn season.

One might ask what did these things have to do with autumn? Scripture says, “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven,” Ecclesiastes 3:1. It was that season and that time for those activities from my childhood that made autumn special to me. Thank God for the special memories He gives us to cherish.

Food for Today:

Genesis 8:22

“For as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, day and night will never stop.”

Picture Courtesy:

Autumn Country Road along mountain courtesy of Pinterest.com

Green Wagon with Pumpkins courtesy of Wix