October brings variety

Today I am remembering fun things I have done in October. I am sure you have many things to remember as well.  First and foremost, October is packed full of such a variety of things to do.  It has a feel, that no other month has.  When I was very young, I felt sad that summer was over, excited to be back in school and apprehensive of all the legendary ghosts and goblins.  What an array of different feelings.

During these years, I never stopped to see the beauty of the colors around me.  I did, however, enjoy playing in the leaves, that fell from the trees in my yard.  We had two big maple trees that produced many leaves.  I loved to rake them into piles, as high as possible, and jump into the middle, sinking down to the bottom.  It was also fun to literally pull the leaves over my body and hide.  Leaf fights were common during this time.  But, what I enjoyed most was raking the leaves in rows, and creating a house with several rooms.  I played for hours in my leaf created playhouse, using a variety of play schemes.  Most often my dog was a play partner. How such simple play could make me so happy, I will never know, but it certainly did.

As a teenager, I loved the Halloween season, dressing as witches, ghosts and goblins. But, one of my favorite memories were hayrides, bonfires and weenie roasts. I still had feelings of sadness that summer had finally come to an end, and winter was coming.

As a mother, I  loved harvest festivals.  We would try to find several to attend each year.  I enjoyed helping my children dress-up for trick-or-treating and watching them go door-to-door gathering goodies.  Their excitement was my excitement.  I also loved watching them as they “bravely” went through haunted houses and bobbed for apples during parties we hosted.

I watched as my grandson had huge parties and all the fun the children had.  My granddaughter is having that same fun now.  I relished in their trips to my door to trick-or-treat, watching their delight with the goodies their Pa’ and I provided.

But now, I also love apples and other fall produce.  I love the beautiful fall colors.  I love the cooler weather.  And…I love the memories!