Whispers of Fall

For Writers

I wrote these thoughts down exactly 9 years ago today — August 30, 2010 and when I reread it, I felt all the goodness of Rupert, Idaho all over again. Thanks for letting me indulge in my heritage with this little reminiscing.

Today I walked my second grader on her way to school and then took a short walk around the block with my other two kids. The air felt crisp with a chilly breeze–so refreshing–especially to this pregnant lady.

This little whisper of Fall always awakens memories inside me–wonderful memories of my childhood and growing up in a rural farmland. I have to be honest, it makes me a little homesick. Even after all these years, I still feel those memories keenly and can almost smell the air laden with the aromas of harvest. Grain and Bean harvest is finished, the fields are being prepped for winter. Potato and Sugar Beet harvest are just around the corner. The time for helping my parents clean out our huge garden, storing the squash and pumpkins in the shed, canning salsa, and maybe some fresh peaches looms in my memory.

*This is a picture of my dad during bean harvest about twenty years ago.

Harvest time in Rupert, Idaho where I was raised was to me the epitome of what my community meant. It defined me in a sense–how I love the outdoors, appreciate the bone-tired feeling of hard work, and wide-open spaces with fields as far as the eye could see.

It still defines me–in the way I view the world. I smile when I pass a lone wheel-line in an alfalfa field and hear the click-click of the sprinklers. I breathe deeply when I pass a field of freshly cut hay. There aren’t any potato fields around me now, but I still recall the smell of the earth being churned up by the harvester as millions of potatoes surfaced after the long growing season.

The whisper of Fall in the air today reminds me that I want my children’s memories to be as vivid as mine and tinged with a feeling of contentment, happiness, and gratitude for their growing up years.

Thanks Mom and Dad. I love you!