Autumn Calling

Sunlight in September is different than mid-summer in Utah. It's the light that comes through clouds after a rain, but there has been no rain. It seems as if Utah isn't the desperately dry place it really is, and maybe some of those clouds in the partly cloudy sky will expand and fall on us and give us the drenching that church-going Utahns have been praying and fasting for. The light is subdued, as if some of the red from the oaks and maples on the mountains has filtered into it.

The nights are chilly, but not quite freezing, and the days are still almost mid-summer hot. The grass on the lawns grows faster for some reason and it's as long after one week as it ever was in July when I could get away with mowing every two weeks. We haven't had rain, but I don't have to water as much.

Skunks are out every night, and by the smell of them, they're coming closer to our homes. I came face to face with a very young skunk in my hen-house this week. He wasn't afraid of me, and he wasn't alarmed. He just kept eating the egg he had just broken. I waited until he left, and then I boarded up the small hole he had come through, a one-and-a-half-inch gap that I didn't believe a skunk or raccoon could squeeze through. I never thought of their babies.

It's hunting season, and I am surrounded by hunting land. Throughout the day I hear gunfire all around us. My son comments each time. He's a pretty good aim with a rifle, and I think he wants to go hunting.

I planted one zuccini this year. That's about the right number for anyone. I've got two zuccini squash sitting on the kitchen counter right now, which I plan to cook for dinner tonight. We dehydrated some yellow summer squash that I'll throw into soups and stews this winter.

I planted three tomatoes this year. That's about the right number for my family, too. I've got some Peruvian selections of potatoes growing out there---little strange-looking things that don't look like the ones from the supermarket. That strange look is why I planted them. The common russet, red and yellow potatoes are so cheap in stores that they're almost not worth growing in a backyard. Pumpkins, butternut squash and acorn squash are just about ready to pick. My peppers have gone crazy this year. In my spring garden, where I grow peas and greens that I harvested back in June, I let the sunflowers grow through the summer, and they've been in full bloom for two months. Thousands of birds come and eat the seeds, and I throw the rest of the flowers to the hens.

Autumn is coming to kill most of the green around here, but not before turning it into something beautiful. I'll be forty-two this week. Forty-two! There is so much I want to do in the next forty-two, and I have only just begun. I believe that I have a good while to go before my own autumn. I hope that Nature does something worthwhile with me before winter.