Fall Ritual

     One of our family rituals of fall is visiting the apple orchard.  We are fortunate to have an orchard within about 10 miles of our home, so it’s usually several visits during the season.  Our first visit this year was on a gloriously sunny day.  When we arrived there were cars parked along the road.  We were not the only family eager to get apples and fresh made doughnuts.  Walking towards the cider mill, we were captivated by a unique variety of pumpkins outside of the front doors.  Several formal pumpkin patches had been created on the parking pad.  Pumpkins were grouped according to type and then size.  There were the traditional bright orange pumpkins.  There were very sophisticated white pumpkins.  There were these unique, almost marbleized pumpkins with shades of maroon, to burnt orange, and olive green.  Even the shape was different from the other white and orange pumpkins.  Their shapes were exaggerated, like if you pushed your fist into a balloon and then sectioned off the resulting bulges.  There were also pumpkins that resembled something from a horror movie.  They had what could only be described as peanut shell-like growths over them, each pumpkin infected to varying degrees. 

     Our family of six, literally stood for nearly 15 minutes just surveying the different forms and colors.  Maybe that doesn’t sound so out of the ordinary, but when I consider what we knew to be on the other side of the doors, it is amazing to me that we could be delayed by anything short of a rabid dog guarding the doorway.  Once we moved nearer, the doors swung open, and ahhhh.  The smell.  In unison, we all breathed deep.  Crossing the threshold, we resumed our mission, straight to the line at the bakery counter.  It was several families deep. Knowing I could place my order with my husband who would then stay in line with the kids, I was free to roam about the orchard store.  Its cement floors and roughhewn wood shelves and crates gave me nostalgia. It felt like a barn I might have played in as a child.  So many new local items had been added to the inventory of the seasonal shop.  There were new jams, and a whole array of flavored honeys. I was just getting started.  But, like being woke from a dream, I was interrupted. My husband and children had gotten the doughnuts, caramel, apples, and some old fashioned candy sticks.  They were now anxious to get home, to complete the mission and enjoy what we had been anticipating for weeks.  There is definitely something to be said for rituals.