A Running Collection

Grandmother and Granddaddy visit. They come with books and stories and excitement. They help with dishes and meals and children and baths. They read stories and play games. Granddaddy helps with the tractor. We clear garden and land for rye and a fall garden. We eat soups and lasagna and yummy bread. The rain comes in and we nap and talk and drink hot apple cider. The children are filled to the brim with love from the grandparents.

  --> Florida and Fall take a long time to meet each other. It is September 30 at 7:45 in the morning and it is incredibly humid and so very warm. I think that the air is actually moldy. We’ve had a few hopeful cool mornings that linger longer and arrive earlier in the evening. We look for signs and changes. I’ve become fascinated by seedpods. They are beautiful. The dying of the flower means the creation of beautiful seedpods. Deeper colors like oranges, browns, magentas, and reds create odd shaped spheres, crescents, or needles. We stay outside as long as possible. We take blankets and tea and study and talk and watch the animals chat about this and that. The children have planted starts for the garden and we move them in and plant more seeds hopeful for a big fall crop. Amelia brings leaves with splashes of color and they twist and knot and design what they can with branches and leaves to form Autumnal crowns and designs. Th...

  --> We’ve been raising pigs for three years now. I love them. They are such kind creatures – if you keep them fed. They mind their own business, like to visit with us and then return to their wallow or grazing or food or whatever it is they want to do. They are smart. They play games with each other and with sticks and other treasures they might find in the yard. In May, we decided to step up our pig life and had our two ladies bred. We watched their bellies swell and took daily reports from Amelia and George Wilder about the condition of their possible labor and delivery. We set their due date for September 11. That day was long. No piglets. On September 14, Amelia came running. Cyprus is having her pigs! She had already had four and delivered two more.   They really are adorable creatures. Sweet, fuzzy, pink, rambunctious critters – always crawling around and over and on top of each other. Our dear Bronte still didn’t ha...