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
