Thursday, September 20, 2012

First Day of Autumn


Autumn officially kicks off on Saturday September 22nd!  The first thing that comes to mind when I think of autumn is apples.


The scent of a cinnamon apple pie baking in the oven.  School trips to apple orchards.  Apple jelly, apple butter, apple-cider donuts—Lord, if you haven’t had one of these, you need to get to your nearest apple orchard ASAP and try one.

 


Before I moved from the Chicago suburbs to Phoenix, my former high-school friends and I met at the Edwards Orchards in Poplar Grove, Illinois, for an afternoon of apple-shopping fun.


We strolled through the over 100-year-old dairy barn that had been converted into a gift shop.  Everything you can imagine made from an apple or having a picture of an apple on it could be found in this barn.  Cosmetics, dishes, souvenirs, candles, salsas, linens and hundreds of other gifts.  We purchased our cider-apple donuts and watched young girls make the donuts in the barn kitchen then we checked out the hayloft and the display of farm antiques before eating lunch at a local café.

Each September I feel a little nostalgic as I remember that visit to the apple farm.  But it's also a time for me to celebrate friendships.  Whenever I eat an apple-cider donut, I remind myself how blessed I am to have been able to maintain a friendship for over thirty years with the girls I went to high school with. 


What do you do to celebrate the changing of summer to fall where you live?    
 

 
Marin
A Cowboy's Duty *Rodeo Rebels* 8/2012
Beau: Cowboy Protector *Harst fo the Rodeo* 11/2012
No Ordinary Cowboy *Rodeo Rebels* 4/2013

 

6 comments:

Amanda Renee said...

You have officially made me hungry. Second, you just reminded me I used the last of the apple butter last week and need to add it to my list. Third, I want to go to that apple farm! When I lived in NJ we would go apple picking every fall. The Apple Festival over the border in New York State was the highlight of my fall. Here on the beach in SC the seasons don't change. I miss Fall and the leaves turning. And now I'm really homesick but you just brought back some amazing memories I had forgotten about.

Marin Thomas said...

Amanda, I think it's a rite of passage to go at least once in your lifetime to an apple farm to pick apples :-) You and I both are missing that...I guess in AZ I have to trade apple farms for pecan farms...not quite the same though :-)

Amanda Renee said...

I've never been to a pecan farm. I think I would enjoy that...and gain 10 lbs!

Anonymous said...

Happy First Day of Fall. I have only been to a pumpkin farm I will have to look for an Apple farm here.

Marin Thomas said...

Hi Tammy
if you can find an apple farm it's definitely worth the trip! Thanks for dropping by the blog :-)

Anonymous said...

This is my favorite time of year. I'd enjoy fresh picked apples every day of the year though.
Cathy
cathyann40@yahoo.com