Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Autumn Memories


"Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
 fluttering from
 the autumn tree."
~Emily Bronte


The warmth and beauty of autumn makes it my favorite season.  The leaves are rapidly falling now but they leave behind many memories of past autumns. 

I remember...

...when as a youngster we gathered the biggest pile of leaves we could and then jumped into the middle while laughing in sheer delight.  

...the smells of autumn.  From burning leaves to the wood fires to loads of grain and corn and from walking into the house in time to catch the scent of apple or pumpkin pie as they were brought out of the oven.  

...walking home from school down the tree-lined lane and hearing the crunch of leaves under my feet.  

...riding my horse through the woods and watching squirrels scampering up the oak and walnut trees waiting for us to move on along so they could get back to the business of gathering acorns and nuts for the winter. 


...walking the rows of freshly harvested corn fields carrying gunny sacks and gathering ears of corn that had been left behind.  My dad would give me a few coins for each sack I filled. 

...going on hayrides on country roads.

...weiner roasts when my children were young.  We would drive to the back of our property where we had several walnut trees and help the kids gather walnuts for them to sell for spending money.  After a few hours of walnut gathering, we would pick up some dead limbs next to the creek and start a fire and roast hotdogs and marshmallows.  

...watching the parades on beautiful red and gold tree-lined streets during the homecoming festivities.

Do you have a favorite autumn memory?  I'd love to hear about it!

Happy Tuesday to you!
xo Cheryl

27 comments:

  1. gathering fallen apples and helping my mother core and slice them to freeze and canning applesauce with the peels. :)

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  2. Such wonderful fall memories. And a hotdog cooked over a campfire sounds pretty good as supper time approaches.

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  3. It sounds like you had a perfect life! I have no memories like this, wish I did. Your trees are fantastic! And I love the leaf shot, especially the shadow of the other leaf on it!

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  4. Cheryl, I loved this post. The story of you and your kids gathering walnuts, and picnicking. I loved your pictures too. Our beautiful leaves have about all disappeared from the trees after two days of big wind and rain today. Blessings to you, xoxo,Susie

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  5. Oh how I love Fall.....and I think so many others do as well.....I would love to see these....so very pretty! The bold colors sure make a statement that Fall is here....

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  6. Very pretty post, thanks. I love fall. New York is beautiful in fall and our first house had a beautiful maple that had leaves that changed from green to red and orange foliage.

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  7. First let me say,these pictures are spectacular.WOW,that's color! I used to love the smell of burning the leaves and I still love to walk through the leaves and hear the crunch.

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  8. They are beautiful, aren't they?! I love the crunch under my feet, but my husband prefers to mow over them!

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  9. A whole lot of beauty down your way! That tree is amazing. I don't have any autumn memories more wonderful than yours. I loved the walnut gathering story culminating in a weiner roast. Sounds like a lot of fun!

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  10. A lovely list of memories! I still love swishing through the fallen leaves!

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  11. You really drew a delightful picture. I grew up on the south side of Chicago so it was a bit different but we did have hayrides in the park and made our own Carmel apples, and ohhhh the fudge. Back then we could burn leaves so that was always pretty cool.

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  12. Gorgeous photos, Cheryl. I too love Fall... I could name 20 or more things I love about Fall.. Besides the Fall Colors ---I love hiking this time of year. I love the cooler weather and the sound of leaves under my feet when I hike....

    I love Pumpkin ANYTHING ----and this time of year, I enjoy Pumpkin Coffee, Pumpkin Ice Cream, and finally found some Pumpkin Fudge this past week on our vacation... YUM....

    I am one who loves raking and blowing leaves.. Most people don't --but it's always been something I enjoy... (Crazy me!!!)

    Great post.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  13. Oh, I love the Bronte quotation! And such gorgeous photos. And to think that fall is nearly over. :-(

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  14. I never noticed fall much growing up in Southern California, but I do now. Our leaves don't really fall here till November though. You have such wonderful memories. I enjoyed reading about them. Those were the days eh?

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  15. Your life sounds picture perfect. Wonderful memories, indeed. Raking and jumping in leaves was something I enjoyed as a child.

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  16. oh i really enjoyed your memories...we had never seen the selling of walnuts till we moved to missouri and saw people gathered in a parking lot with their trucks full!

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  17. Such lovely Fall colours in these shots. just the other day, I was walking through piles of leaves brushing them up wtih my feet as I went.

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  18. burning leaves and wiener roasts are in my memory vault and the smell is still there even though it has been 50 years since i smelled it. my autumn memory is my favorite... we lived in KY and had to walk up the mountains and down the other side to get to school or to get to daddys garden that was on top in a flat spot. the path was steep as in almost hit our nose in the dirt as we walked... my mom, dad, my little brother and i were walking down, the leaves were really thick. mother's feet went out from under her and she slid like she was on a sled about a hundred feet. we were all laughing so hard she could not stop sliding, she would try to get up but laughter made her slide again. one of our fav memories from our years in KY

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  19. Many of yours that you listed could be mine as well. When I was younger and still lived in Ohio near my large family, we would have our annual huge "weenie roast". My mom made homemade donuts (aka. deep fried biscuits rolled in cinnamon and sugar) and huge kettle of hot cocoa. It was usually on that occasion that we all drew names for Christmas. Too many kids and spouses to buy for everyone!

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  20. Oh, I forgot to comment on your gorgeous photos..they are stunning!

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  21. What beautiful pictures, such a beautiful time of year.... I remember jumping in the pile of leaves my Dad had raked up, was so much fun and the earthy smell was wonderful.Blessings Francine.

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  22. I have many of the same memories. I can remember picking apples off the trees in our backyard on a cold crisp day and my mom baking them into one of her delicious pies. xo Laura

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  23. Your leaf color is amazing. We are still struggling. I adore the smell of leaves burning and camp fires are such fun when it is cool. I could stare at for hours in total peace.. A lot of your memories are mine also. Thanks for the reminder to look, smell and enjoy.

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  24. Beautiful color! We don't have that much yet. I'm afraid it will mostly be brown this year.

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  25. Cheryl, your pics and memories are so vivid! I felt like I was right there with you. :) What I remember loving about Fall was taking trips to Boone, NC. :) I had never seen a chipmunk until Boone, they're so darn cute!
    hugs,
    Marie

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  26. What lovely Fall photos. The colors in your area are so much more vibrant than here where I live. Can't help but kick the leaves when strolling. Sweet post!

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  27. I loved the beautiful fall photos and your memories. I remember similar events. I didn't get to ride the horse but I remember doing the other things. I always loved riding up into the mountains and enjoying viewing the beauty of autumn. Many years a go we used to deer hunt and I have fond memories of being with my husband and my immediate family. Also, fall weather brings on the football games, hot chocolate and hot dogs at the games.
    Blessings for the memories today~

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