Indiana Roadsides

by
Jean Hughes
October 23, 1995

Out of the night's shadows and the glow from a muskmelon moon, comes the dawning of a new day. "Frosty mornin', mornin', mornin'," calls a white-throated sparrow. Dew-made snowflakes sparkle over fields and roadsides. Sunbeams play through crisp air. Autumn clings to me like sticktights.

As I walk along, I confer with the wooly bears about the coming winter. One is traveling south -- cold winter. One inches north -- warm winter. One wears three black stripes -- cold, warm, cold. One has a black spot at each end -- cold, warmmmmm, cold. Yesterday, I found one in the basement that had no black at all, but it is probably planning to spend the winter indoors, with me.

Some of the wooly bears are so confused they even travel east and west. Somehow I feel that all of life is in the same boat. We all have to wait to see what winter brings, what life brings.

* * * If September is gold on the ground and fire in the sky, October is the opposite. There are pearl-yellow sunsets and the fire is on the hillsides -- leaf-flames of yellow, red and orange.

I walk, today, in the solitude of the deep woods. Squirrels, birds and chipmunks share the trees, and raccoons, groundhogs and field mice make their homes along the trails of transient deer. Everywhere there are signs that the little creatures are getting ready for winter. I never feel alone here.

Where I Walk

       Where tattered leaves meander down,
       And summer grows her last bouquet;
       Where life is working into brown,
       And autumn colors lag and stay;
       I walk along a wooded trail,
       Deep-strewn with kin from bright-faced trees,
       And listen to the winnowed wail
       Of every wrinkled, vagrant breeze.
       Silent and next to silent place,
       Where I can wade the sylph creekways;
       Where errant sunbeams leave a trace --
       In where the twilight spends its days.

When home-grown sorghum, apple butter and jam are waiting in the jars, I make this special cake.

Autumn Twilight Cake

Cream together: 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup sugar.
Stir in: 1/4 cup sorghum, 1 egg and 1/2 cup apple butter.
Add, and beat until smooth: 1 cup flour and 1/4 t. baking soda.
Bake in a greased and floured 8 by 8 inch pan at 350o for 25 minutes.
Autumn Sunset Icing
Cream together: 1 T. butter, 1 T. grape jam and 1/4 t. vanilla.
Add 1/2 cup confectioners sugar, or enough to beat into a smooth icing.

This afternoon I travel up the highway toward home. It is cloudy, and the spectrum of colors is intense. In one meadow black cows stand out against the green in a small pasture. Reds and yellows hang like lighted lanterns from the trees that hem them in. On one low knoll, the ground is strewn with ears of corn. Pigs eat there, knee-deep in gold against the patchwork backdrop of the leaves.

When I get home, I take the dogs for a late afternoon walk. A light breeze trips through the woods' edges. The sun shines softly on nature's palette of colors.

Birds linger in the trees and in the bushes. They talk, softly, to each other. I can hear cardinal conversations and the chatterings of tree sparrows. Geese fly above me and buzzards, flying home to roost, wind in circles. I lie down for a while to watch the sky parade and then, because the dogs have become restless, I walk on.

It is so lovely here in the field, with leaf-made waterfalls of rainbow colors on every side. It makes my heart ache. We who live where the leaves change from green to hues of red and gold do not realize that there are few places on earth where oaks and maples, sassafras and all the other trees that we find common grow. I turn, slowly, round and round, taking in all of the colors. A quiet joy fills me. I call to the Creator of all this earthly beauty, "Look what you've done today! Look what you've done today!"

Jean's book of ramblings and recipes "A Country Mile of Winter" and her book of poetry "The Earth's My Home" are available for $4.95 each plus $1.30 for postage and handling. Her nature letter "Diary of a Back Yard Naturalist", published 5 times yearly, is available for $12.50 per year. Ten of Jean's favorite recipes will be included free with each book or nature letter ordered. Order from...

Country Mile Publications
616 E. Monroe St.
Delphi, Indiana 46923

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