Welcome to another week!
Fall is at its peak in the Atlantic community. My dogwood and black gum trees are crimson. Sugar maples are tangerine and golden. It’s so pretty.
We had a fast and furious fall this year. The early morning sun glowing through sugar maple leaves is almost painfully beautiful. It’s the equivalent of fresh, mauve flowering crab tree blossoms in May and sparkling, frost-flocked blue spruce in January. Changing seasons highlight God’s magnificence as an artist.
I’ve been trying to enjoy the joys of fall as much as possible. I’m cherishing every sunny day and trying to savor all the unpasteurized cider I can. I bought some fabulous cider from Hickory Grove Orchard in Espyville the other day. They still had a few Cortland apples left, so I bought a bagful. I think it was half a peck, but I’ve never been too good about understanding pecks and bushels and all those weird medieval measurements.
I’ve never seen apple tress as loaded as they are this fall. Roadside trees absolutely droop with apples. I’ll bet deer are living high on the hog. I sometimes worry about neglected apples trees. Shouldn’t the fruit be made into applesauce, apple crisp, and apple cider?
Well, maybe not. What if God intended them as food for deer, turkeys, black bears, foxes, and other animals?
And let’s not forget horses. God held off frost this spring to provide for all creatures under his care in the Atlantic community. Just think: your sagging apple tree just might be God’s way of feeding the deer that will make you freeze and stare and smile in January.
Turkeys you’ll stop to count as they toddle through your woods might be traveling home after an apple lunch. Apples can fill the bellies of the black bears we’ve seen lumbering through our area. Better a satisfied bear than a hungry bear, right?
You are invited to come to an old-fashioned hymn sing at Fallowfield United Methodist Church on Sunday, October 25, at 6:30 p.m. Praising God through song makes my spirit come alive. We’d love to have you join us.
Have a wonderful week. Blessings!