Sunday Safari

 

Today is another gorgeous October day.

Acorns are falling

and the mums in the window boxes are re-blooming.

Wild violets in the lawn
are beckoning me to sit in the grass.
I respond with glee.

There are still many flowers in bloom but
 I am interested in the leaves.

  

This is the season of leaves.

I visited family graves last week.

My husband and I went to a
German Octoberfest in southeastern Missouri.

Watching the artisans was inspiring.

The skills and folkways from the 1800's
were demonstrated by these talented men and women.

I took notes and lots of photographs.

I want to learn how to make braided rugs.

I asked lots of questions.

I watched as sorghum was pressed and cooked.
I brought home a jar.

This was a large festival.

We watched

apple butter being cooked

and apples being pressed in apple cider.

I bought a corn husk witch doll

to add to my witch doll collection.

I fell in love with this hooked rug,
maybe next year I will buy it.

Autumn fairs and festivals
speak to me.

The hands of the artists stay in my mind.

The sounds linger for days in my memory.
I hear the singing and the laughter.
I feel happy.

I seem to resonate with the old ways.

I am at home with dried herbs
hanging on doors.

I wear elk moccasins,
made by Indian women.
One of these days I will make my own.

I did not need to eat a springerle cookie
to fill my soul with the tenderness
of by-gone days.

I am getting my needles and thread out.

I am thinking about leaves and bees

and planning for winter.

While the sun is still warm

and walking sticks are about

I am gathering.

I walked the Osage Trail.

We choose our pumpkin for
our Jack-o-lantern

at a roadside pumpkin patch.

Back home I recorded the 3/4 inch of rain
we had received.
It is a glorious October day.
Happy Sunday safari.