Friday Five: Autumn Memories Edition

Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest. Jeremiah 5:23b

SingingOwl says: "The Autumnal Equinox has just come 'round again. I took a look back at our Friday Fives and noted that it always seems to make the Rev Gals and their Pals think of changes. There is something so nostalgic about this time of year, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. The nights grow cooler, crops are harvested, for some of us the leaves are beginning to change colors. The scent of smoke is in the air, pumpkins are in the stores (or on wagons, or in roadside stands for those of us in the country). I'm thinking of putting away my summer clothes and pulling out the sweaters. And I have a tub of Fall-themed items that my husband just lugged up from the basement. I'm looking for my scarecrow.For this week, let's share some memories along with some hopes and expectations."

1. Share a Fall memory. I always think about Fall as more the new year than New Year's. Maybe that is because I have spent more of my life going back to school than not...or at least it seems that way, and Fall always seems like new beginning time. I came out here to my new life on the prairie in Fall...where I fell in love with the amazing light. So it's not so much a single Fall memory but a montage of new beginnings from childhood on....new shoes and new books to a brand new life that held more promise and adventure than I ever could have imagined.

2. Your favorite Fall clothes--(past or present)? I Love Hoodies! Especially if they are plush and soft and warm. I am always cold and having something that is just a little bigger than necessary that I can pull up and over and hunker down into on these chillier days makes me a happy camper!

3. Share a campfire story, song, experience...etc. When I was a kid I went to "day camp" at the local park. Our local girl scout troops would take over this huge beautiful bluff top place for a week each summer. Each "unit" would be assigned to a camp for the week. We would make "sit-upons" woven out of folded newspaper and then covered with an oilcloth bag. We'd do crafts, have campfires where we would make campfire stew, attempt to bake cakes and biscuits with more (or mostly less) success, learn songs and go on hikes. At the end of the week there would be an all camp program where each unit would perform something. One year we did an abbreviated version of the Hiawatha story. I got to be the narrator. and it was pretty cool. "By the shores of Gitchigoomee, by the roaring big sea waters...." or something to that effect.

4. What is your favorite thing about this time of year? The light, of course!

5. What changes are you anticipating in your life, your church, family...whatever...as the season changes and winter approaches? I am hoping that R and I will have more time to spend together. Our schedules should mesh a little better for a variety of reasons and we are hoping to have a little more just "regular time" to hang out, work on house projects and just be together enjoying one another's company.

Bonus: What food says "AUTUMN" at your house? Recipes always appreciated. Soup, stew, apple crisp and pie. R and I picked some pears at a friend's house and have had two great and different pear pies. YUM! Sorry I don't have recipes...wrong computer.