Autumn/Fall Homesicknesses

 

A friend from high school published a photo of pumpkins laid out ready to be bought and turned into jack o'lanterns.

I'm almost never homesick for New England, but that photo created a tsunami of memories that caused an HA or a Homesickness Attack.

Autumn (Brit) and Fall (American) has always been my favorite time of year. It is more like the new year with school or new projects starting.

The summer heat has morphed into crisp air. The leaves, especially in New England, turn beautiful reds with sprinklings of yellow. In Switzerland, the yellows dominate, but every now and then there's a red-leafed tree. I've been known to stop just to enjoy its beauty.

Days are shorter and evenings can include early pjs and a good book curled up on the couch.

I cherish the memories of the years we went apple picking. The orchard was next to a field that a couple of months before had been covered with purple loosestreif. 

We didn't go every year, but some years we took an Odile-style picnic. She was a French friend whose picnics included dishes fit for a gourmet restaurant.

We'd bring the apples home to make apple sauce and an apple pie. Some years we gave them to an elderly neighbor and he would use some for an apple pie that he gave to us with the message, "Cast your apples upon the waters, and they come back as a pie."

There was the year we visited Rick's Mom in Endicott, New York and he took me to the Cider Mill with its pumpkins laid out like those in my friend's photo.

 

But it had so much more. The visible kitchen was busy producing goodies like donuts that were just the perfect thing to eat with a cold glass of fresh cider. 

If I close my eyes, I can picture my New England, the colonial houses, the Robert Frost stone walls, the colored leaves among pine trees. I can feel myself reach for an apple among the branches and add to the basket. The clouds are wispy in the blue sky and the wind is just strong enough to nibble at my cheeks.

The memory is a reminder that I am making different memories where I am now, where I also love and be grateful for it all.