Category Archives: orange

Sep22

Summer’s Afterglow

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Summer’s Afterglow

Autumn is summer’s afterglow. The trees radiate the sunrays. This first day of autumn, rain is what we need. Dark clouds rolled in a couple of times this past weekend provided a little moisture, but we need more. Earlier this month, while Dean and I journeyed through the valleys of Virginia and a visit to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, embers of autumn ignited into glowing yellows, flaming oranges, and burning reds with a few trees and bushes on the hillsides. Puffy clouds in the sky so blue billowed from the mountain tops like smoke from the fires below. My Missouri will hopefully experience this colorful transformation soon. I am thankful the autumn equinox is here! Meantime, I enjoy the repurposed stain glass window from Dean’s parents’ Kansas City home of 50 years. This colorful piece is now hung in Dean and I’s cottage home.

A new season has begun. Self-care is high on my list of priorities. Discoveries await. Dean and I’s much needed getaway to the countryside gave us rest to our bodies and souls. I have experienced much pain this year, started in March. Two discs in my lower back and two discs in my neck are misaligned causing migraines and traveling pain down my legs and arms into my feet and hands. Thankfully I have had some good physicians, nurse practitioners, and physical therapists. Prayers for healing have been many to our God. More recently I am able to function in most everyday activities with less medication. Some activities will have to be eliminated altogether. Changes are forthcoming.

As many are aware, I have been writing for years. It began with journaling and moved into submitting to online publications, and have had my poems, short stories, and recipes published. My first full-length book has been published this week! It is a work that I have been after for over four years since my retirement from human resource management. Strewn Words in the Stew is a multi-genre 2-volume memoir of my culinary life. Recipes, poems, short stories, favorite sayings, and photos fill up the pages. Volume 1 is available now, and Volume 2 should be available on Amazon/KDP in November. If interested, you may purchase my book through Amazon. Formats include Kindle, paperback, and hardcover.

What discoveries are at and beyond the horizon for you? Keep praying, seeking, and discovering.

Nov7

My Fill These Autumn Days

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My Fill These Autumn Days

Our October and now November is filled with family and community activities. A good busy. Outdoor family photos were taken the last weekend in October despite the very chilly morning. We could see our breathes! The trees were gorgeous greens, yellows, oranges, and reds with the location not far from our daughter’s and son’s-in-law house in Kansas City. Color coordinating credits to our Kansas City daughter. We experienced God’s creation in the vibrant autumn colors of nature. Capturing smiles and all twenty-four eyes of twelve Gall family members looking towards the photographer was a chore. She did an excellent job.

“November is the … changeling between crimson October and cold white December.” ~ Margaret Atwood

My oldest daughter and grandson, their two little dogs and one cat are staying with us temporarily. A big change in our household. The cottage’s seams are bursting with animal activity. Our grandson, Eli is homeschooled and started coming to my work one morning a week as a volunteer at the senior center. The older citizens love him! Our daughter, Rachel has been collecting autumn leaves and pressing them between wax paper in books. My disabled daughter is seeking a house for three people and three fur babies in St. Francis or Jefferson County. If you know of any decent places for rent or sale, please message me my FB friends.

Dean and I purchased a Little Free Library box from the non-profit. Dean set it up on a wooden post in the front yard, and I partial filled it with books. I need go through boxes for more children’s books to place in it. My hopes that our neighbors enjoy reading as much as we do. The past few days I am busy with Rho Chi, the local chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha, an organization I joined late September. We are preparing for the annual St. Jude auction. I am helping with the raffle baskets and decorating miniature Christmas trees for this coming weekend’s auction. We ladies made time for a fun evening at The French Creperie where we made sweet and savory crepes, learned a few French words, and just had fun being silly. A great group of ladies with good intentions, works worth the energy and benefit the community.

We had been in a drought for months and finally received much needed rain. Although, eight to ten inches in the past forty-eight hours are not ideal. Swollen creeks and tributary rivers flooded in the lowline areas. More rain coming this Saturday. The weather folks say the bigger rivers will not flood. Praying for the safety of our neighbors in our town and nearby areas. Our flooding is minor compared to what the folks in western North Carolina experienced late in September. In a few days Dean and I will travel over a 4-day weekend to take collected winter clothing and blankets to Asheville, North Carolina. Not sure what all God has in mind, but we will be there and ready. Dean and I are equipped and are enough with God’s guidance and strength.

“I am calm. I am grateful for this day. I find joy in ordinary places. I am resilient. I am enough”

~ Mary Davis 

“The scent of cinnamon and cloves

Round pumpkins and crisp, sweet apples

A world turned ruddy in rich shades of orange and gold

Puffing chimneys, sweaters, warm drinks

And leaves, gently leaving one home for another—

Autumn.” ~ Laura Jaworski 

Sep26

This Month’s Preoccupations

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This Month’s Preoccupations

September is finishing up nicely. Cooler weather and rain after a few very hot days in the midst of a seven-week drought in our parts of Missouri. Some humid late afternoons led into early evenings bringing huge thunderheads, and spotty rain showers. In St. Charles they didn’t produce precipitation. Our trees, shrubs, and blooms were begging for some. We watered occasionally with the garden hose, and filled the birds’ fountain a few times these parched weeks. One Friday evening while the Main Street boutiques stayed open a couple of hours later, Dean and I did some early Christmas shopping. While out we captured the sun reflecting on a huge thunderhead, creating this beautiful orange sunset. Finally, much needed rain came the past two days.

September is a few weeks away from October’s first freeze, typically mid to late October. We start preparing for the planters of perennials and herbs to come indoors. Probably next weekend for the big move as the mid-40’s is predicted for the week after next. Our ferns and arrowhead plant won’t like those low temperatures. My potted herbs are sensitive to the cold air, especially my basils. I grew Genovese Italian and Tai basils this year. I clipped their blooms a couple of weeks ago to allow them to dry on a paper towel in my kitchen. Last evening I spent an hour extracting their tiny black seeds from the Italian variety. I will take on this tedious job with the Tai variety another evening next week. I enjoy the satisfaction of growing from my own plants’ seeds and cuttings. This autumn purple asters grace our front porch. They are a lovely contrast to the nifty turquoise door as well as the orange pumpkin and front door wreath. I have to read up on how to care for them. Asters look similar to mums though have ferny-type leaves that are attractive. I have not much luck with mums, so thought to try something different this fall.

This autumn season fabric pumpkins and pillows are all the rage for me. Dean is into Halloween doodads and widgets. A stop at the antique mall last weekend was successful with reasonably priced, handmade finds for both Dean and me. We had a fun evening at the Smartt Field hangar dance last Saturday. Dressed in tropical casual, with many others in period clothing and WWII uniforms. The band was led by my OB doctor when I was pregnant with my son 31 years ago. So nice to see he is still using his musical talents as well as still active in his practice in the community. Reminds me of someone else I know, using her technical and creative skills to serve her community. I am still at it in the kitchen of our community senior center as well as writing.

Aug18

August, Summer’s Last Stand

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August, Summer’s Last Stand

This summer has been wonderful. Not too many steaming hot days. The flowers keep blooming. The bright sunflowers keep turning towards the sun. Our hummingbirds and songbirds have been busy at the feeders in the mornings well into the evenings. Dean is making sugar water for the feeders every week or so. Many fledglings have taken their first flights from our yard this season. This week the summer bugs hum their tunes like it’s their last. A noisy August. A summer like this makes it harder to say “goodbye”.

This morning, the sun endures past dawn. I realize that it is August: the summer’s last stand.” ~ Sara Baume

A later sunrise each morning and a little earlier sunset comes with the beautifully amber glow evenings. As the month moves along, I sense the transition into early autumn with each day. The autumn colors of yellow, orange, and purple haze peer through the summertime greens. I welcome this changing of the seasons, especially the crisp air and gentle cooling breezes. Autumn decor of fabric gourds and pillows have appeared in our cottage. More metal art of pumpkins and the fall season will come out this week.

“Some days in late August at home are like this, the air thin and eager like this, with something in it sad and nostalgic and familiar.” ~ William Faulkner

A Tasteful Transition

Vivacious summer lettuce greens to virgin olive green oil.

Meadow yellow buttercups to mellower ginger yellow.

Green rind watermelon to melon-tinted gourds.

Bright field poppies to pumpkin oranges.

Bowls with berries of purples and reds to

pies of red delicious and granny smith apples.

Sundaes with chocolate and caramel drizzle to

chai hues of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, brown sugar.

Ice creams and custards of creamy white to

a teacup of earl greyer vanilla with cream.

Summer’s sweetness to autumn’s hint of spiciness

welcomed in my mouth’s palette.

A tasteful transition.

Anna Marie Gall ~ August 18, 2024

Sep23

An Almanac Autumn’s Arrival

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An Almanac Autumn’s Arrival

Autumn comes in with a cool morning and the promise of warmth by noon with the full sun. A London Fog tea latte is calling my name. The leaves are turning golden with oranges and amber peeking through already. I am reminded of the abundance of autumn with berries plump, zucchini and yellow squash almost the size of a toddler’s leg, and the many varieties of tomatoes overflow the gardens and baskets. I read this poem many years ago and always enjoy reading it again every September …

Blackberry Eating by Galway Kinnell
I love to go out in late September
among the fat, overripe, icy, black blackberries
to eat blackberries for breakfast,
the stalks very prickly, a penalty
they earn for knowing the black art
of blackberry-making; and as I stand among them
lifting the stalks to my mouth, the ripest berries
fall almost unbidden to my tongue,
as words sometimes do, certain peculiar words
like strengths or squinched,
many-lettered, one-syllabled lumps,
which I squeeze, squinch open, and splurge well
in the silent, startled, icy, black language
of blackberry — eating in late September.

The other fruit to take notice of this autumn is the persimmon. The Old Farmer’s Almanac isn’t predicting a terribly cold autumn for the Midwest, but what about winter? The persimmon seeds are supposed to tell us what kind of winter we are to have. Look for the persimmons to be ripe soon in your area, if not already. Missouri is to have a spoon winter. According to this article with the Old Farmer’s Almanac here is how to predict weather with a persimmon seed:

1. Find a locally-grown persimmon. (A locally-grown persimmon is necessary because it will reflect local conditions!) Wait to pick the fruit or cut into the fruit until after it gets a bit soft—almost mushy.

2. Open the fruit and cut open a persimmon seed. 

3. Look at the shape of the kernel inside:

  • If the kernel is spoon-shaped, expect plenty of snow to shovel.
  • If it is fork-shaped, plan on a mild winter with powdery, light snow.
  • If the kernel is knife-shaped, expect frigid winds that will “cut” like a blade.

I hope you enjoy your autumn and all it entails in your part of the world. It will prepare us for the next season, the winter whatever that may bring. There is a season for everything …

“There is a season (a time appointed) for everything and a time for every delight and event or purpose under heaven—” ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1

Sep6

Summer Fades Into Autumn

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The cicadas have clicked and buzzed in harmony since late July. August came and went with floods at the beginning of the month and ended with a drought. Now it is September. It is the month that summer fades into autumn. The songbirds, swallow tail butterflies, and honeybees still gather at the fountain for a drink. For our feathered friends, it is also a communal bath. A refreshing rain cooled the air, and gave the thirsty earth a drink. My morning walks start a little later as the sun waits to come up as the moon slowly leaves the sky. There is a rustling with the flowering bushes and leaves in the trees when the wind shifts, some days blessed with the cooler northern air. Lush greens are giving way to hazel. Early autumn colors of yellow, orange, and red are seen. I gathered a handful of leaves to put in water as I walked home one morning. The evening stroll in the yard brought me to resilient blooms holding on until the first frost, or my snipping shears. The imperfect yet resilient petals show bug bites and drying tips, but still the hues brighten my September day. I am reminded of God’s promise, “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.” ~ Psalms 46:5

May10

My Haven Is Home

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My haven is home.  So blessed during this stay-at-home order Dean and I have been given opportunity to care for our home and yard.  Our home gives back so much more.  And spring has been so pleasant this year, very much like spring should be.  Sunshine, rains, a random storm brews up, cool mornings, and warmer afternoons.  We had a couple of days it felt more like summer, but it cooled down after the rains.  And then a few frost warning mornings, but it never came.  Better safe than sorry, we covered our annuals and perennials.  Kind of like the corona virus for us.  We take the precautions: masks, social distancing, and extra sanitation in our home and when we are out.

These mild temperatures and regular watering from the rains has provided such a green haven of leaves, grasses, mosses, and foliage.  Mid-spring the dogwood, azalea, clematis, irises and the flowering trees, bushes, and stemmed blooms are clothed in white or more showy colors of fuchsia, paler pinks, purples, blues, oranges, yellows, and reds.  The peonies are exceptional this year.  The song birds are plentiful.  Their songs divine.  The morning doves, robins, finches of purple and yellow, grosbeaks, cardinals, indigo buntings, nuthatches, and sparrows of many species come to our feeders and reside in the birdhouses or bushes.  Hawks and owls call out throughout the day and night as their homes are nearby.  Of course, families of squirrels and rabbits in the neighborhood are for the taking by these birds of prey.  Occasionally, it is a morning dove for a meal.

Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest,
For those that wander they know not where
Are full of trouble and full of care;
       To stay at home is best.

Weary and homesick and distressed,
They wander east, they wander west,
And are baffled and beaten and blown about
By the winds of the wilderness of doubt;
       To stay at home is best.

Then stay at home, my heart, and rest;
The bird is safest in its nest;
O’er all that flutter their wings and fly
A hawk is hovering in the sky;
       To stay at home is best.

Song by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Aug15

August Full Moon

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Last evening at the greenhouse was lovely.  Mild, a bit of a breeze.  Dean mowed as I weeded, watered, harvested a bunch of basil,  and then trimmed the tomato plants.  All the growing energy needs to go to the fruit, not all the leaves.  We may only have another 6 weeks of producing fruit before frost sets in.  As the sun sets, the owls hooted into the dusk sky and the late summer bugs hummed in unison.  And then the quiet.  I listen to the quiet, and the earth’s heart beat…  Leaving Boone Hollow Farm we were greeted with a yellow-orange moon.  The huge trees along the county roads seemed to glow yellow.  Was it from the moon, or is this the first signs of autumn? As we drove from the countryside in Defiance to our St. Charles home the moon seemed to get closer.  It is officially a full moon today, and it is called a “grain moon”.  Also known as the “green corn moon”, “barley moon”,

and according to the Farmer’s Almanac the August full moon is known as red moon based on its color illuminating in the hazy sky or sturgeon moon named after the large number of fish caught during this month in the Great Lakes region.  Here is a list of names for the moon from this internet source:  https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/full-moon-names:

North American full moon names by month:
January: Old Moon, Moon After Yule
February: Snow Moon, Hunger Moon, Wolf Moon
March: Sap Moon, Crow Moon, Lenten Moon
April: Grass Moon, Egg Moon, Pink Moon
May: Flower Moon, Planting Moon, Milk Moon
June: Rose Moon, Flower Moon, Strawberry Moon
July: Thunder Moon, Hay Moon
August: Green Corn Moon, Grain Moon
September: Fruit Moon, Harvest Moon
October: Harvest Moon, Hunter’s Moon
November: Hunter’s Moon, Frosty Moon, Beaver Moon
December: Cold Moon, Moon Before Yule, Long Night Moon

Oct30

Seasonal Love

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What makes leaves turn different colors in autumn?  According to the College of Environmental Science and Forestry:  http://www.esf.edu/pubprog/brochure/leaves/leaves.htm … “During the spring and summer the leaves have served as factories where most of the foods necessary for the tree’s growth are manufactured. This food-making process takes place in the leaf in numerous cells containing chlorophyll, which gives the leaf its green color. This extraordinary chemical absorbs from sunlight the energy that is used in transforming carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates, such as sugars and starch. Along with the green pigment are yellow to orange pigments, carotenes and xanthophyll pigments which, for example, give the orange color to a carrot. Most of the year these colors are masked by great amounts of green coloring. Chlorophyll breaks down. But in the fall, because of changes in the length of daylight and changes in temperature, the leaves stop their food-making process. The chlorophyll breaks down, the green color disappears, and the yellow to orange colors become visible and give the leaves part of their fall splendor.” 

So there is the scientific explanation for the color changes in a leaf.  I have a seasonal love that by-passes all the science stuff … oh, autumn!  These cooler days and color-bursting leaves bring me outdoors at every opportunity.  This past Saturday Dean and I watched bright orange pumpkins drop from the blue sky while small engine and military war planes whirl above with the leaves and birds.  Sunday afternoon gave us another chance to enjoy the vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows at Boone Hollow Farm while picking the last of our ripened cherry tomatoes and all the green tomatoes still on the vines which succumbed to the first killing frost this past week.  This Monday’s lunch hour was spent walking at the park relishing more color and sunshine.  Tuesday promises even more golden sunshine and warmth.  And on  a rainy, colder Wednesday the trick or treaters will come out in their costumes.  Some will be dressed in black and gruesome red, black, and green makeup, but I particularly like the happy get-ups in bright colors and smiles.  Our 2-year old granddaughter, Elise is dressed as a monarch butterfly!

 

Aug4

Change

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Midnight, our almost 13-year old Labrador wanted outside at 3:30 this morning. Odd, as he is usually sacked out on the couch at this wee hour of the morning. And then he did not want back in. Midnight wanted to lay in his backyard, and Dean left him there. Morning came an hour earlier today…Midnight & New Pillow 2016

As we set out for work this Friday,  I understood why Midnight wanted to stay outside. Our dog was welcoming the “change in the air”, the first of the family to feel the air switch directions, a cool brisk wind from the north.  It is an annual event, noticed by the animals and nature-sensitive people. This colder air brings the geese honking and ducks quacking overhead at sunrise and dusk. Deep-sighing breathes are taken in relief of the sultry summer heat.  Dinner menus change to comfort foods. Poems are even written about this change in the air. My oldest daughter wrote this poem in honor of this change and her mother saying every year …

The woods begin to vibrate with gathering and preparation. 

The sounds so crisp, electric.

Her words were “I felt the air change today.”

Red, orange, yellow, green, brown.

They dance while falling.

A choreographed waltz.

Every year she said “I felt the air change today.”

Beautiful, breathtaking, loyal.

The Canvas.

I think I felt the air change today.

With this change in the air comes thoughts of autumn and winter, getting the household, greenhouse, and gardens ready for the cold seasons. Another crop of greens will be sowed next week, maybe give us 2 or 3 more months of salads. Smaller pots and baskets of our perennials will be combined into bigger pots in preparation for their indoor home. But this time it is something more than a season change for our green life as said in the lyrics of A Change in the Air sung by Clint Black …

There’s something talkin’ in the wind
Whispering through the trees
That feeling in my bones again
Just puts me right at ease
It takes me back to all the times
I’ ve been here before
But crossroads, old familiar signs
Tell me there’s something more

Can’t explain, there’s something strange about the early fall
It’s comfort leaving me without a care
I remain but everything around me hears the call
And tonight I feel a change in the air

The leaves are turning, soon they’ll fall
There’s a norther blowing in
The memories flowin’, I recall
Those changes in the wind
But I can never try to understand
There’s nothing you can hold in your hand

Can’t explain, there’s something strange about the early fall
It’s comfort leaving me without a care
I remain but everything around me hears the call
And tonight I feel a change in the air

Yes I’ll surely feel a change in the air

Fall Quote