The Coming of Cool Weather

It still feels like summer here in North Texas...its hard to think about planning for winter when its 90 degrees outside. But the trees are loosing their hold on the leaves, acorns and nuts grow heavy and fall to the ground. The days are growing shorter and roses are in bloom one more time. All little reminders for us to start preparing for the coming of the cool weather and then for the cold north winds to arrive.

The wood stove needs cleaning, wood delivered and stacked. We purchase downed wood, not cutting anything that has not fallen on its own accord. It burns wonderfully clean. Its time to change out the hay in the chickens nesting boxes again and hay the barn. The garden will be tilled and planted this week with frost tolerant things like collard greens, cabbage. We will put in fast growing things like lettuce and spinach too. Warm quilts taken out of the linen closet will be washed and hung to dry. New wool socks knitted and jackets hats and gloves taken down from the attic where they lay in wait all through the hot summer months.

Cooking and baking will once again begin in earnest, the hot summer seems to decide the menu, simple, cool and no lengthy oven meals. Bread will bake more often, pies will bubble and brown and fill the house with spicy homey smells. Coffee will perk and hiss as it spills over a bit on the wood stove once again. Smoke will curl and dance from the chimney in the frosty air.

Long johns will be welcome under my skirts and old fashioned black lace up ankle boots will be the norm for choring time. Clothes will freeze dry on the line again and resemble cardboard displays. The bed will be a mound of feathers, the deep feather bed, fluffy down pillows, and of course the down comforter under the quilts. We have no heat in our bedrooms, just the bit of warm wood stove heat that waifs through the doorway. Lots of covers make sleep cozy and restful. I think all my children like to sleep in cool rooms, its what they are used to. When we lived in the mountains of Oregon, the girls both slept with sleeping caps on, nothing to do with old fashioned looks mind you, it was to keep their heads warm ! I can see them so clearly in my mind, little girls with tousled hair poking out from their caps, their bodies buried under mounds of covers, rosy cheeks, peace written all over their faces as they slept. At times you could see their breath, when the temperatures dropped below freezing outside, and the house took a while to warm up. Emery slept near the fire, waking every couple hours to put another log on. Its never that cold here and we just build a good fire at night, and wake up to chilly floors and grab a jacket while the fire is started. The house here is well insulated now, it wasn't when we first moved in. So its never been lower than the 50's inside in the morning when the fire has died down. Still the contrast from a warm bed makes it feel mighty chilly. For some reason, we love even those moments. Hard to explain really, but it's not hard. Its like in old books how you enjoy reading about such moments, living it is just as fun as reading about it.

Eggs will spit and dance on the griddle, soups will simmer all day long....the fire will bring such peace to the home in the evening. Last year when my dad was here for Stevens wedding, he loved to sit beside the fire, in the rocker, and read. He tended the fire with real dedication, keeping the house toasty warm and dozing off to sleep from time to time, content, his book slowly dropping to his lap.

Ah yes, the coming of cool weather....sure sounds good to me.