Autumn Bliss

I have always loved Autumn, but the past few years this season doesn't seem to hold the same meaning for me. I keep asking myself why this is so and the only thing that keeps coming to mind is the fact that here where we live, it just doesn't seem like we have a true Autumn. All the years I lived in Spokane, I just loved all the colors, the crispness in the air, oh and the Autumn work....you know the harvest season. Oh how I loved going to Green Bluff and picking fruits, harvesting all my vegetables out of my garden. My kitchen was always hopping with all the canning, making jams, freezing, storing, drying, and pickeling foods for the following year. Of course this all took place while at the same time all my daily tasks took place of baking bread, fixing meals, homeschooling, and house cleaning. What a busy time of year but oh how I loved it.

Here Autumn comes in with wet dreary days, that blend right into a wet dreary winter, and then turns into a wet dreary spring. I feel like all we truly have here is Summer (and don't ask me where our Summer went this year as it was just as dreary as winter) and the dreariness of winter. I don't live near any orchards and refuse to pay the price they want at these dumpy little fruit stands that go up here and there. I have yet to really learn just when to get my garden going here in order to really produce a decent vegetable garden.

My jars sit empty in my garage, no reason even cleaning them and putting them in the pantry as I doubt I will ever use them again. My freezer looks so bear but for the food I purchase at the store. Yet through it all I still hold onto the bliss that Autumn has always filled my heart with. I know that someday I will discover a whole new way of celebrating Autumn, and it will be just as wonderful as the Autumns I remember of past.