Autumn Gratitude

I took this rainy picture first thing this morning to welcome autumn (although I think it officially arrived some time with the storms last night).

Thankfully those circles and white spots are raindrops reflected by the flash...
... and not debris from the falling NASA satellite.

Autumn is my favorite season. I like the crunch of dry leaves under my feet and the cool crisp smell of an autumn breeze. I like sleeping with the window open on colder nights and how a mug of hot coffee warms my hands in the morning.

For some reason autumn always makes me feel grateful.I like the foods that autumn brings in my garden, like winter squashes, peppers, sweet potatoes, and popcorn. And I'm grateful for the fields that will soon start to be harvested all around me.

I like to watch my landscape change. Not only will the trees change color but plants in the garden and the fields and the pasture transform, too. Some things, like sunflowers, wilt and turn brown while other things, like kale, thrive in the chilly damp weather.I'm thankful for the flowers that hang on with the chill.(And I'm thankful that sometimes bad pictures of those flowers still turn out looking pretty.)

This year I'm thankful for this one particular silly little apple tree. This tree makes me laugh. It must have thought, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..." and somehow it made one (and only one) apple. I think that now I'll name this apple tree "The Little Apple Tree that Could." Do you think the other apple trees will be jealous that I gave this one a name?If they were to be jealous, they should be jealous that "The Little Apple Tree that Could" made such a good apple.Speaking of good apples and gratitude, I'd like to thank sweet Candy C. from Lazy J Bar C Farm for recently giving my blog the Liebster Blog Award... this was a flattering and delightful surprise... thank you so much, Candy C!