Fall into Autumn 

Vickie Carrol from Vickie's Olde School Gift Shoppe wrote into our blog to tell us how she falls into Autumn.  

I had to spend some time thinking what this phrase Fall into Autumn means to me. I’ve seen it in the candy isle at the grocery store in preparation for trick or treating, and the many varieties of pumpkins in the vegetable bins. To me it is symbolic of the preparations we begin making for the winter season.

At my gift shoppe, I bring out bring out the decorations for fall, harvest pumpkins from our farm pumpkin patch, add some corn stalks and add a few bales of hay. Mums are another colorful flower that I enjoy adding to the mix. I always like to add something different each year; a giant pumpkin carved by Mo Auger, a scarecrow that wore some old flannel shirts and jeans, signs to measure how tall the children are this fall. I’m not sure what it will be this year. Hmm…maybe I can convince someone to loan me some of those giant (hay) marshmallows to make something fun!

So, yes the colorful images of autumn are what we need to sustain us during the long, cold season of winter. As a Kindergarten teacher, I always enjoyed reading the Caldecott Honor - winning story, Frederick by Leo Lionni. In this story a little mouse who should be helping gather foods for the winter tells stories to his fellow mice that warms their hearts and spirits.

As for my family, we will finish harvesting our crops and prepare for winter,  ever mindful that we must remember the colors and stories that we have savored throughout the year. We will make our home warm with cozy textures, autumn colors, fragrant scents of apples and cinnamon, fresh bread baking and a pot roast simmering on the stove for dinner. Fall into autumn to me is the beginning of making our home a place that is ready to “hide out” when cold weather arrives.

****submitted by Vickie Carrol, Limerick, Maine