A chill creeps into my backbone as I escort the chickens and ducks into the barn. It starts in the small of my back and runs up my spine to the base of my neck where it mingles with my hair…making it feel like it rises to stand on end under my ball cap. Its fall…or at least it feels like fall. Upon stopping to think about that, it occurs to me that within the next week…NO, actually seven days from now, it will officially become fall, or my favorite term…autumn. Autumn is the harvest time…a time of corn shocks made by the settlers and still by the Amish. Autumn encompasses Halloween, bunches of Indian corn tied into a group of four ears, hanging from a front door. Corn stalks tied to porch pillars and pumpkins sitting beside the door or at the two posts of a porch at the homes entryway. Harvest moons dictated by the close proximity of the moon to the earth in autumn has led to the term “Harvest Moon”…and a love for this time of the year by all young lovers lends to the song, shine on Harvest Moon, from 1908 and again in Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon”. There’s just something incredibly romantic about fall, autumn or harvest…whatever you might call it, but it always stirs some kind of a special feelings among everyone it touches.
Fall always imprints the same picture in my mind’s eye when I think about it; has for a good fifty-five year now! As soon as I allow my mind to drift to those past falls…a chill materializes, tree leaves begin to fall as limbs twist and bow in the evening autumn winds. The smell of apples, corn and hay drift in the breeze, while that big ol’ harvest moon shines down on us like a dim light bulb in a ceiling fixture. It’s about now that I scrooch around, drawing my neck down into my collar to ward off the chill running down my spine. I pull the collar up and together, attempting to withdraw my head like a turtle down into my flannel shirt. There is a nip in the air, yet there isn’t anywhere I would rather be. I remember as a young boy, wearing costume masks and hiding to scare the neighborhood girls…as they walked around the neighborhood looking for us. I’m sure in times of rest, as they sit and daydream…I come back to those friends’ memory…as they re-enter mine. I love autumn!
Last evening we waited patiently to see the lights on the new tractor shed come on…just knowing it was going to add country charm to the quaint building that replaces the one we lost in June to the early morning fire. Wait we did…and nothing…did we see! After a good long while and being sure it was dark enough, I went and checked the breaker. Yep it was on… Next, we shut off the breaker and went to the shed with tools and a flashlight in hand. Vick held the light as I checked wiring, connections and found nothing wrong. CRAP…that means the dusk-to-dawn device was defective. We turned the power back on and they lit…stayed on for a few minutes and turned off again. I banged on the unit once or twice and climbed down to concede defeat. In roughly three minutes, the lights came on and remained on until this morning. Hmmmmm, now what? We’ll wait for this evening to see if it works okay or not. If not, the device goes back. If it works, we forget it and go on with the Bilco door repairs. Below are pictures of the new lights and the barn after removing the bright lights from the posts since adding the top light. All are now soft, quaint and quite country oriented.
From a distance with the camera flash.....
Without the camera flash, showing the quaint, country charm...
The barn with softer lighting through the night...
070623 Cluckin' "A" Critter Farm, LLC
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