Member-only story
The Farm in Fall
It’s a special time of year
Fall is a special time of the year on our little farm. It is harvest time, the time when all of the work we have done all spring and summer comes to fruition. All the months of cultivating, planting, watering, and weeding come to a close. It is a time of celebration and a time for reflection. It is a time of change and a time for preparation. It is a beautiful season to take in all that surrounds us.
One of the first signs change is coming can be found in the ways the animals behave. Squirrels scamper furiously to gather their cache of black walnuts and acorns. This stash will help sustain them through the cold winter months on the horizon. Migratory birds begin their journey southward, one flock at a time, and week after week the quiet will grow. By late October the mornings will be silent. Monarch butterflies will fly south to the sunnier climes of Mexico. Coyote pups are now grown. The males will leave their mother, while the females will stay. Deer fawns are now adults and no longer have their spots. The baby animals we admired in the spring are no longer babies. Possums, muskrats, raccoons, and other ground animals are building up their protective fat layers to shield them from the coming cold. Their fur becomes thicker as the weather turns colder. Summer is fast becoming a memory.
