Fall traditions as told by Hannah

Fall Traditions as told by Hannah

Hi Grammy,

It's fall. The leaves have already begun changing and you can smell it in the air. The tree branches are starting to droop under the weight of the fruit. The nashi tree is full and should probably be thinned...years of doing it alongside with you has taught us well. Don't worry, we'll keep Jan away from it.

We picked the plums this weekend...they are sweet and the ones that fell to the ground squished under our feet when we weren't watching where we were stepping. The apple trees, too, have come on...we'll make pie filling, I'm sure. And the ones that fell from the tree early or that the worms got to? Yep, we'll play baseball with them, just like we always do.

We've picked all the berries. Don't worry, we didn't miss the ones underneath because standing on our heads is second nature now. Only thing is that more berries probably went into our bellies than into our buckets...but I'm sure you're not surprised by that.

We've harvested the corn and tomatoes...we've pulled up the soy bean plants and picked off the pods. I made some and took them to work to share. It pleased me greatly when I realized that's what you would have done. No one's home grown soy beans are better than yours, Gram.

Vegetable Olympics will be coming up soon...mud football to follow. We bottled tomatoes a little while back. Grammy, I told Harmony that if you were here you'd scold her for not cutting them to the right size. I mean, they were just ridiculously large! Mits did a lot of beans, too. No canned or factory bottled greens could ever rival yours.

The hibiscuses bloomed and are now gone for the season. They remind me of you, the hibiscuses do. They are bright and beautiful and full of life.

The walnuts need just a little more time...they're starting to fall. And the pecan tree is huuuge! I swear it grew ten times as big this year and there are so many pecans on it! We'll climb those trees soon and shake the branches until all the nuts come down. We'll wear buckets on our heads for protection as we run around trying to catch the falling nuts. We'll clean and crack and harvest those nuts...perhaps not as diligently as you did, but we'll try our best.

Your trees and garden will be going to sleep for the winter soon...and then in no time they'll be blooming again. That, I think, is an analogy for a greater Plan. And oh, how one's soul sings at the thought of it.

I miss you, Gram. See you later, alligator.

Love,
Hannah