It’s fall y’all and my favorite time of the year. I love the cooler days and crisp nights. It means wrapping up in blankets to sit on the deck and drink morning coffee and grabbing a jacket to take Freddie for long walks along the creek. 

Pumpkins, leaves of reds and oranges and yellows, and colorful mums decorate porches and store fronts. Saturdays are spend in front of the TV rooting for the Oklahoma Sooners and Sundays are spent cheering for the Browns. 

I make chili and cornbread and hot apple cider. We shop for bargains at The Prairie Peddler, celebrate the Circleville Pumpkin Show and eat mouth-watering BBQ at the Olde Thyme Festival. And we make our fall pilgrimage to the Great Smoky Mountains.

At Thanksgiving we cook too much, eat too much and praise God for the many blessing we have to be thankful for.  And when it is over we rake leaves, clean out gutters, and prepare the cabin for the harsh winter that is soon to come.

And as each night gets slightly colder than the last, we put a little more corn in the can for the deer that come nightly to our front yard. Over the past three years they have become like family to us and we remember to give thanks for them too when counting blessings. We feed and protect them and let them know they have a safe sanctuary from predators and hunters alike when they are in our yard. 

 We sit on the swing and watch as they come out of the trees and form a single line coming down the driveway to the sweet corn that awaits them until one breaks into a trot and the others gain pace to be the first to eat. It is amazing the noise they make when they chew. The grinding and hashing of teeth can be heard a considerable distance away. As fall drags into winter they will all become more defensive of the food we put out. The larger deer will kick and paw at the younger, smaller ones to scare them away from the food piles, ensuring more for themselves. But for now, because it is still fall, and some foliage is still available on the hillside, they share and remain harmonious to one another.

I love that there is always a feeling of excitement in the air in the fall. The smells, the crisp air, the flavors of the season all invigorate and stir our senses and leave us wishing the season could last all year. Ah, if only it could….

I hope this fall finds you among family and friends and that you have eaten too much turkey and taters and pecan pie and that you are healthy and truly happy.

I hope your cup runneth…as does mine.

Fall Blessing To You and Yours!

Dianna