Autumn Brings Us Home Anonymous Friend
  When Autumn comes to Kentucky, it is an awesome event. I feel it is an event as much as a season because, for me, it's comprised of so many elements. One is that first noticeable nip in the weather. Another is the anticipation of the the holidays -- Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas beyond. Autumn also brings to my mind a sense of "gathering in", both in terms of family and of the harvest. I think of Autumn and particularly October as a time in which so many activities are offered for out enjoyment, from annual festivals to the pumpkin farms and apple orchards that many of our farmers open to the public. And always, there are the memories of Octobers past.

October is a time for enjoying the last warm days of the years and, at least for some of us, a time to dread the return of standard time: the loss of daylight and knowing that soon, 5:00 PM means dark! This year on October 3rd, we had a high of 85 degrees. On October 7th, when I went to Lexington, there was that first noticeable nip. It was a beautiful warm Fall day, but the nip was there to tease, as if saying, "See how warm you are when you're standing in the sun and how chilly it is when you walk into the shade?"

A lot of Kentuckians see Autumn as a time of "gathering in", whether it's a family reunion complete with all the planning and preparation involved or a warm Saturday that inspires one last back yard barbeque, we tend to come together and savor the season. Wherever we gather, we enjoy visiting with our families amid Kentucky's spectacular fall foliage display which, with some admitted prejudice, I consider second to none. Because of the drought we had earlier, our leaves are forecast to peak a few days later than normal this year. Still, I'm confident that from our wonderful lakes and rivers in far Western Kentucky to the family farms and horse farms of Central Kentucky to our towering mountains in Eastern Kentucky, we will soon be treated once more to this color extravaganza we know as Autumn in Kentucky.

As October winds down, I remember Octobers past -- not in the detail I might wish for, but the memories are no less dear. I remember as a small child walking with my grandfather in the woods near our farmhouse in search of hickory nuts. I wanted to walk as silently as an Indian so the squirrels and rabbits wouldn't run away. Our family would also get together when it was time to make coder. I was too young to take part in the work involved, but I remember all of us gathering around the cider press waiting our turn to taste. And I remember my grandmother's countenance. A very devout lady who truly lived by her faith, she raised no objection to making cider, but her face sent a message that she wasn't sure it was a good thing to drink the stuff!

I remember a Halloween when I was in high school when six of us, out looking for some kind of prank to play, passed a big pumpkin patch. Since the place seemed deserted and it was after dark, we decided to "borrow" a couple of pumpkins. Just as we began to lift them off the ground to cut them from the vine, the farmer who owned the patch just rose up from behind some bushes -- in his long-handled underwear and bearing a shotgun -- and advised us in some well-chosen words that we really shouldn't bother the pumpkins.
We didn't.

Another memory from high school is attending a football game between Madisonville (my alma mater) and Owensboro, our arch rivals at the time. In those days, we dressed up for those games -- suits, hats and high heels. The game was in Owensboro and at halftime it began to snow. By the end of the game, several inches had accumulated. I remember my grandfather carrying me from the car into the house when we got home to spare my new shoes. A memory from my freshman year is being invited by my best friend and her parents to go to the races at Keeneland in Lexington. It was one of those most beautiful sunny warm days in October with our foliage at full glorious peak. We had lunch at the old Phoenix Hotel and went on to the races. For the life of me, I can't remember whether I won or lost, but I distinctly recall the suit and hat I wore for the occasion, down to the earrings.