October is My Happy Place

October is the pumpkin patch where I was born

Where I am among my favorite fellow gourds

The same place a little gourd would sprout from my own vine

🌱

It is nestled among the glowing trees that burn with bright hues of yellow and orange and red

But there is always one tree that delays its maturity to hold on to the days of its youth

It stands still green among its aged companions

Not ready to lose what leaves remain

🍂

He stands tall and smiles while he looks upon my rotund body as I roll around among the earth

I look to him as well… my young defiant friend

I respect his radical resistance to age

He will delay his glow to when his fellow trees are long dead

He looks upon my hard rind knowing deep inside there is a soft center that will someday make for sweet delights

🍁

Today I entertain the visitors as they ride the hay-bale caboose around my organic playground

Screeching in joy at the funny shapes and bright colors against the soft soil

The air crisp with a fresh season

Their cups full of fresh squeezed cider

While their mothers look on in yoga pants coyly sipping their spiced lattes

🥤

I will carve a spooky yet sweet smile on my face

I will hold it for as long as I can

Eventually it will droop and sag

As time like gravity pulls inward

🎃

But for now in this season and in this place I am where I belong

The place where the air stings my nostrils with the first frosty mornings

Where the only warmth comes from those that surround me

And the memories of the early morning on those early days

Where life seemed to be as it should

😊