It finally feels like autumn along Lake Michigan. The air has cooled down, the bright reds and oranges are coming out, and I've been spending as much time as I can in my favorite spot, our front porch.
The Porch, the Blankets, and Max
If you pulled up a chair out there this time of year, you would find me under a wool blanket with Max beside me, looking out at our maple tree. It always turns color early, so it gets to be the star of the show before anything else has caught up, and it is beautiful every single year. I can be distracting on a sunny day, while I'm trying to get work or sketching done, but I'm trying to soak up time outside while I still can.
When you live in a beach town, it's easy to decide that summer is the best the year has to offer, with the sand and the sun and everyone outside. October is a different kind of good, slower and cozier, and it asks you to sit still long enough to notice it.
Noticing the Quieter Things
Summer is all about the showy blooms, and I love them, but this time of year my attention goes to different parts of my garden. I find myself looking at the details of the leaves, the seedpods, and the structure of my garden now that the big flowers have had their moment. It's the bones of the garden, really, and you only see them once the loud color has finished for the year.
Painting has a way of training your eye to slow down, and fall gives it plenty to land on. A single leaf is never just one color up close, and a seedpod is a tiny piece of design all on its own. I'm not trying to turn any of it into something grand. I'm just enjoying how much there is to see when I stop looking for the showy stuff.
Apple Picking on the Fruit Ridge
There's a region northeast of us called the Fruit Ridge, where you can find all sorts of fruit crops growing, and we head there every year to go apple picking. It started when my husband and I were a couple, then it became a family tradition, and now that we're empty nesters again it's back to just the two of us.
Some things have changed over the years, but not the best part. We still love to get homemade donuts warm from the fryer along with fresh pressed apple cider. Then I bring our pickings home and make apple butter, which my husband loves, plus plenty of apple crisp and pies.
What Does October Look Like Where You Are?
Between the porch, the garden, and the apples, I'm reminded every year that the little rituals are the ones worth holding onto. I'd love to know what yours look like. Is it a porch with a blanket, an orchard, a walk along the beach, or a corner of the garden you only notice this time of year? Pull up a chair and tell me about it, because I have a feeling we all have a spot like that!
