Autumn Equinox

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." — George Eliot

Today is the first day of Fall. The Autumnal Equinox occurred last night at 11:09 Eastern Standard Time. I can’t say what that means to other people around the world, but here in my house its a beginning.

Now is the start of my favorite season. The cool night air returns, and it's actually comfortable to wear long pants, a shirt and boots in the morning. It’s also comfortable to hike in the woods or work in the yard. The mosquitoes and flies are gone for the most part, and the air is exhilarating. I find myself with a renewed sense of vigor and a lust for life.

More often now, our fire pit comes alive, it’s embers warm and comforting during the chilly Autumn evenings, as we sit and watch the familiar constellations pass by overhead. The air is cool and crisp, so the stars are bright, and yet the fire, maybe a coffee or hot chocolate and a sweatshirt keep us toasty warm. On occasion a cold beer will also do. There are new scents in the air, as well. Split, drying wood and crisp, fallen autumn leaves replace summer flowers and the scent of hay drying in the fields. I live for these nights. My spirit soars!

All of the hard work over the summer months is coming to fruition, in the gardens and in the orchards. At the beginning of Autumn, we are still going full bore, working hard to finish the summers chores. Mother Nature’s seasonal clock inside each of us pushes us onward to take care and finish everything, to make ready for a long winter.

Around here, even those who are far removed from the need to prepare for the cold dark months ahead still seem to find increased energy, and a desire to do something “seasonal” outside. The orchards fill up with people, locals and out-of-Staters, here for a weekend excursion to pick apples, drink cider, eat donuts, cheeses and smoked pulled pork sandwiches.  We pick at least one sunny Saturday or Sunday during the fall to spend at Allyson’s Orchard in Walpole. It’s an annual trip we cant miss.

Another integral part of the season for me is Football and home-made soups. We aren’t avid football fans here at Casa Huntley… I could really care less about what all the other NFL and College teams are doing, but I enjoy watching or listening to the New England Patriots. I usually fire up the crock pot and make something like Caldo Verde, with our own kale and veggies, or my own black bean, butternut squash and turkey chili with chipotle. Sometimes Jeremiah bakes a whole wheat bread. If the game is on at 1 O’clock, we probably miss it, or listen to it on the radio while out raking leaves or stacking wood, but if the game is on at four, it becomes a family dinner affair. We grab our bowls and bread, and descend to the family room to watch the game on TV.

Later on in the season, when, in older days, the harvest was completed, the fall celebrations start. I don’t think its any wonder that so many people are born in June and July, nine months from now. The holiday festive season is a beginning.

“Why did dusk and fir-scent and the afterglow of autumnal sunsets make people say absurd things?”— L.M. Montgomery (Emily's Quest)

All the favorite holidays start now. Halloween kicks it off, and around here we have the Keene Pumpkin Festival, where 70,000+/- people descend on Keene for a harvest/Halloween Celebration. It’s huge! It has been rumored that, after running for a couple decades now, this is going to be the final year, in no small part because of the fact that it has grown so large and un-manageable. People come from all over the northeast and beyond.

Three weeks later, my favorite holiday arrives…Thanksgiving! It’s a huge family event. We travel, as do so many, and usually spend the night. Tracy’s family makes a huge spread, with the standard thanksgiving turkey plus a lot of other dishes, not so standard, but very delicious. In years past, snow has been a factor in travel and often the snow, skiing, and sledding start after thanksgiving. Lately, it has been a little warmer and dryer, but the snow is still on its way.

Finally, we hit the holiday hat trick of Winter Solstice, Christmas and New Years. I used to put on a Winter Solstice celebration dinner and a bonfire, but it gets a little tough to have Christmas dinner the same week. We still try and have a Solstice bonfire, or at least a fire pit night and observe the seasonal shift. Christmas Dinner is at my house a few days later, and New Years is usually up in the air.

The last few years have been somewhat of an exception, with the bum economy, but in normal times there is a seasonal pattern to work. Those of us who depend on the weather for work, surveyors and wetland scientists like myself, or for people in the construction industries,  it is customary that that summer is the extremely busy season, and a 50-60 hour work week can easily be the norm in order to take advantage of the light and warmth.

The winter roles around, and things calm down. That’s when we all take our vacations and play. Sledding, skiing, snowboarding, hockey, snowshoeing… and it all starts soon. For me, it’s also a time for not feeling guilty about staying inside on a Sunday, curled up by the fire, reading a book, learning a language, playing guitar or doing a sketch or watercolor. A beginning of the inside season, too.

I’m not saying that I don't like the other seasons, or that I dislike Summer, it’s just that by this time of year, I’ve had enough, I’m ready for a change. The season with all stuff that I like to do is about to start again… the Equinox begins it. I’ve heard some say that it is a depressing time of year, things are dying, the geese are leaving and summer is over, but for me, it’s an exciting new beginning… until the next season and next beginning.