GLORY IN THE HIGHEST
It's getting to be fall-ish around here, and I couldn't be happier! (Well, that's not entirely true since I hate to see summer coming to an end. It's been lovely.) However, I am totally, completely, absolutely enamored of fall and cannot WAIT to spend the next six weeks watching it slowly make its way into the mountains.
The weather is the best indicator, of course. We've had days in the lower to mid 70s, and the next few nights will be in the upper 40s. The sky is the kind of blue that you only see in fall--deep blue and crystal clear. I recall those days in Baton Rouge when we'd all wake up to a day like this and know that we had made it through yet another summer. (Yes, it might get warm again, but we knew that there was HOPE.)
I am eager to watch the leaves change color this year. Since we'll be here on a daily basis, we can see the slow changes as they occur and not just see the "done deal", so to speak. I've not yet figured out what the correlation is between "good" fall foliage and rain or temperatures, but I'm hoping for a magnificent show of color. The past two years, we have been blessed to be able to come the week of my birthday (3rd week in October), and that is usually the peak week. I have to remember this year that the glorious foliage on the Parkway will be earlier in October since the elevation is higher, and I don't want to miss that.
Of course, there is that reality check that tells me that autumn leaves mean they fall OFF the trees and ON the grass. Good thing we're retired and have lots of time on our hands!! We'll have to see how well this mower mulches!
We have our own trees that we're eager to see how brilliant they'll be in the fall. With the generous contribution of our KOGS lady friends in Baton Rouge after the death of Carol's mom, we bought some trees and planted them on the property last year. They are both red maples, but of two different varieties with names like October Blaze and Autumn Glory. Who couldn't love that, just for the names alone? The trees did well over the winter, with the help of our friend and neighbor Rebecca who helped us water them, and they have grown a lot. We named the trees Lois (Carol's mom) and Gladys (my mom). Lois is planted up here in the front yard and Gladys is down below along the driveway. We also bought engraved plaques honoring our mothers and put them on the trees. These trees are very special to us, and if they live up to the pictures we saw when we bought them, they should be stunning inspirations. Just like our moms.
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| Lois Weathersby |
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| Gladys Parker |
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| Geaux Tigers! |
Another indication that fall is here is FOOTBALL!!! I love football, both college and pro, and of course Carol loves LSU!! We watched the first game of the season Saturday night and wished we could have been in Tiger Stadium. We will be soon, though, as we travel to BR once again to see the Alabama-LSU game. Currently Alabama is ranked #1 and LSU #3, so we'll see how that plays out. I don't even wanna TALK about how steamed I STILL am at Les Miles and his doofus quarterback decisions when these two teams met last year for the championship game. I also watched the Saints game online yesterday since we are sadly NOT in the viewing area to see the weekly Saints game, and it was not a good beginning for Drew and the boys. That RG3 really cleaned our clocks! On a good note, my boy Peyton Manning showed he's still got it when he led the Broncos to victory last night. Shame on you, Colts, for letting him go.
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| Autumn Joy Sedum |
We've also been busy in the kitchen. A few weeks ago we picked apples with our neighbor and friend Sue, but Carol was gone for a week so we just got around to doing anything with them. I cored, she cut, and then voila, there was applesauce. (I think there was a little more to it than that...) We have about seven quart bags of applesauce to put in the freezer, and we still have about the same number of apples waiting for us in the refrigerator. I also had prepared a slow cooker dinner of pork chops, apples, and sweet potatoes, so the kitchen provided good autumn smells all day.
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| Cataloochee |
We hope to go hiking one day this week at Cataloochee and also to stay and hear the elk. Call me weird, but I just LOVE the sound of bugling elk. I guess it reminds me of my visits to my friend Annie's cabin in New Mexico and all the wonderful memories of that place. Recently elk were re-introduced to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and the elk at Cataloochee are doing well. We want to drive out there, do some hiking, and hear some elk bugling. Here's a picture of one of the buildings at Cataloochee in the fall, so it might be worthwhile going back out there in a few weeks. Heck...too many beautiful places, not enough time!! Oh yeah, we DO have time...whew.
Finally, the hummers are stoking up energy for their journey south. I have noticed that we seem to have an additional visitor, but it's hard to tell since our General Ruby seems to chase them off. I put one of the feeders in the back so that maybe they could share, but oh no, that's not gonna happen. (These guys need a good kindergarten teacher to teach them that rule.) But we've usually had three and now I think there are four, so we are going to keep them well fed until it's time for them to head south. I don't know if we'll get others migrating through, but I want to have food for them if they do.
So...I am thrilled that autumn is here. I just revel in it. I told Carol yesterday that I might not be sitting in a church pew, but I was definitely giving all the glory to God the Creator for making such a beautiful day in such a beautiful place and for blessing us to be able to enjoy it all. Amen!!!
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| Lake Logan |
