Sight
Sight
When I was in 7th grade, our family lived in Connecticut. Because we knew we would be moving in a year's time, that Autumn in New England was extra special. My goal was to open myself as wide as I possibly could to absorb the colors of the deciduous trees that draped the hillsides. The deep, rich hues looked like a coat of many colors -- a wonderful tapestry flung across the mountains and valleys.
Here in Oregon, with the evergreens thrown it, sometimes it reminds me of an ever-changing bargello design.
Smell
Smell
In the Willamette Valley, the fresh fragrance of rain-washed fields and forests is a familiar one. Autumn is mushroom picking time, too, and the smell of damp loam is pungent.
The smell of wood smoke begins to waft on the breezes in both town and country, bringing comfort in the mist.
In the Fall, the fragrance of home is cinnamon and sugar. Nothing can beat the enticement of a still-warm pastry. At this time of year, I remember my grandma's little treats. She would smush all the scraps of dough left over from making a pie into a little pan, baked with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Mmmmm... I can smell it now... We didn't even have to wait until dinner to eat it... 
Taste
Taste
...which brings me to tastes. Popcorn and apples on a Sunday night instead of dinner. Hamburger soup. Mom's swiss steak and potatoes. Big, bubbling pots of applesauce. There's just something wonderful about baked winter squash with butter, salt and pepper. And candycorn at Halloween.
Of course, Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings -- recipes passed down through the generations with each new tribe offering something new and equally wonderful, adjusting to taste and changing dietary needs over the years.
My latest exciting discovery for Thanksgiving dinner is turkey breast in the crockpot! Since wrestling with a turkey carcass after the big day is not my favorite thing, I cruised the web and found the perfect, simple solution. 
Put a fresh turkey breast + dry onion soup mix + minced garlic (no extra liquid) into the crockpot on low at bedtime Thanksgiving eve. Come morning, open the pot and turn the breast upside down, cover and cook until eatin' time. Yields juicy, succulent white meat by the time everything else is ready.
Put a fresh turkey breast + dry onion soup mix + minced garlic (no extra liquid) into the crockpot on low at bedtime Thanksgiving eve. Come morning, open the pot and turn the breast upside down, cover and cook until eatin' time. Yields juicy, succulent white meat by the time everything else is ready.
Sound
Sound
The first sound I think of in Autumn, oddly enough, is the hissing spray of tires going by on the rain-soaked street. Then I think of the sound that wood makes as it falls apart on the hearth, consumed by the crackling fire. Fall days always bring to mind mellow Celtic tunes like the music of Loreena McKennitt and Enya and Aine Minogue.
The crunch of leaves underfoot, and the sound of nuts falling on the roof from the giant black walnut over our house on Sunnyside Drive. My kitty, Annie Cat, purring away on my lap when she comes in after hours of cavorting outside.
Touch
Touch
Yes, my soft, furry kitty with her little rough tongue, curled up on the quilt on my lap.
One of the wonderful things about Autumn is bundling up in coats and hats and gloves. My mom made me some fuzzy hats, and I still remember how they felt on my cheek. Being warm on the inside and feeling the cold mist on my face.
Snuggling down under layers of blankets at the end of the day...
