It's Fall

Last night we had our first really hard frost.  When I got up this morning the frost was visible on the grass and fog was heavy in the marshes.  Already the colors in the trees are fading fast, and I suspect that the next heavy rain will strip most leaves from the trees.  It is sad that our Fall season is so short because the hardwood trees are so beautiful when they are in color. 

Speaking of rain, the Autumn Equinox brought three days of solid rain with it.  I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get to the farmers market on Saturday to do the bake sale for our Special Olympics fundraiser because of flooding on the road. Everywhere I looked the water was high.  Sure made me think about what I would do should we become isolated due to flooding.  

But the road didn't flood and Lara and I made it to the farmers market.  It was a great day!  The sun shone.   The air was chilly and the wind was low.  The Fall Harvest Festival in Phillips was in full swing, and everyone was having a good time.  Lara and I dressed in layers, and I brought a blanket to wrap around her legs to keep her warm.  We wore thermal knit long sleeved shirts under our Special Olympics logo shirts, though I suppose what we wore didn't really matter since we wore our jackets and no one could see our shirts.  I bought 5 pounds of fresh cranberries for $10 from Carl, who brought his cranberry sorting machine to "show and tell" for the public, and from Diane at B's Flambeau Acres I bought two kinds of honey butter.  Yum! And it turned out to be a great day for the bake sale because we raised $130.50 for our Northwoods 3-13 Agency!  My hope was to raise $100 and I'm so happy we exceeded that amount!  I also met some interesting people in Phillips who told me about Special Needs services available in the area.  When things slow down some I'll check them out.

Because I needed to take care of Lara, we left the market at noon.  I drove down to Highway 8 and we stopped at the BP station at the intersection there where I filled the van up with gas and took care of Lara.  We drove to Pam Metsala's house and only stayed briefly to pick up a book she sold me called Favorite Rag Rugs.  We took our time driving home because the "Check Engine" light lit up in the dashboard and I was afraid we might wind up broken down on the side of the road.  I called Tom on the cell phone and he figured the van was ok to drive (there are times that it's nice having a mechanic in the house).  Our "Big Green" van is 15 years old; I'm not surprised it's acting its age.

Today is another beautiful day.  Tom is watching football so I think I'll go make sauerkraut and get that fermenting!