Today’s guest post was written by Jim Casada
AN ODE TO OCTOBER
John Parris, one of my favorite mountain writers (and Tipper’s as well), had a real flair for capturing the essence of the changing seasons, and fall of the year with its harvests and a pause to reflect on the good earth’s bounty always loomed large in his mind. He was also keenly aware of something it is all too easy to take for granted—the fact that one of the blessings of life in Southern Appalachia is that the year offers four distinct and delightfully different seasons. Here, using a stylistic approach he often adopted, is a look at some of the things which make October truly special.
*October is apples enjoyed in so many ways—cider, apple butter, dried and turned into fried pies, apple sauce, fritters, deep dish pies, and more. I might add that in my boyhood home, which featured a small but highly productive orchard, we had apples two and often three times a day from October right on into winter.
*It’s a lot full of hogs, eating red-rooted pig weed, corn fodder, more than a fair ration of shelled corn, inferior pumpkins, bruised sweet taters, the last of the year’s watermelons, and whatever else the good earth has to offer. Little do they know that their world of plenty will soon give way to an Armageddon Day for swine. As soon as the first hard freeze arrives towards month’s end or maybe early in November, their salad days will be no more. In my adolescent world hog-killing time was incredibly busy but if you’ve never eaten fried tenderloin taken from a pig that very day I would submit that yours has been a life of culinary deprivation.
*It’s the sweet and satisfying smell of newly plowed ground, with everything turned under to rot in the winter before plowing and planting time returns once more with the glories of spring.
*It’s the heady aroma of nature’s perfume floating on gentle breezes, a mixture of fall flowers, just a hint of dust, ripe or ripening fruits, a touch of sweet decay, a bit of manure from the barn, and more. If you can’t smell autumn, about all I can say is you ain’t mountain folk.
*October is dust devils dancing a crazy path across sere fields which have lain fallow since the harvest, milkweed spores diving and darting in afternoon thermals, and a sense of quiet satisfaction in knowing that another year of hard work, good crops, and simple fulfillment has come to an end.
*It’s a broom sedge field turned into a treasure chest of sparkling diamonds as the morning sun glistens with a million beams of brightness after the season’s first heavy frost. It’s a kid rich in freedom while having no idea he is poor in worldly goods riding sleds made of cardboard in that same field once it has dried in the sun of an Indian Summer’s day.
*It’s a flock of turkeys, with the jakes already bigger than their mothers and the hens of the year almost as big, working their way along a pasture edge, flipping cow piles and dining on a buffet of grasshoppers and other insects.
*It’s a pack of beagles in training for the soon-to-open rabbit season hot on the trail of a cottontail in the cool of the evening.
*October is black walnuts dropping to the ground and providing promise of both hard work in the gathering and cracking and rich rewards in the form of cookies and cakes.
*It’s added pep in an old man’s step on a brisk morning and a sense of urgency in a young boy anxious to be home from school and out in the afternoon squirrel woods.
*It’s shelves groaning with canned goods, freezers full of garden truck but with space left for plenty of venison, and dried goods hanging beneath barn rafters in mesh bags. It’s a pot of leather britches simmering on the stove or maybe one of October beans holding a chunk of streaked meat for flavor.
*It’s a well-worn Duxbak jacket hanging on a peg silently begging to be used, and an old dog which recognizes that jacket means good times in the fields and woods.
*It’s the incomparable perfume of Hoppes’ No. 9 and burnt gunpowder.
*Most of all, October is a month which blends the fulfillment of a spring and summer of hard work on the land with the promise of the special joys associated with the death of nature in her never-ending cycle of death and rebirth, grey grimness and green richness.
I can’t say it is my favorite month, because in truth I can never decide whether it is preferable to May. Suffice it to be my judgment that October is a month filled with enduring wonder. I have conscious memories of well over three score Octobers, and the richness of autumn in all her glory eternally stirs the soul and uplifts the spirits in much the same way these storied mountains reach towards the sky.
I hope you enjoyed Jim’s thoughts on the month of October as much as I do.
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I like seeing all the fall colors, they are so pretty. I enjoyed this beautiful story very much Jim, thank you, and thank you Tipper. Prayers for Granny. May God shed his many blessings upon you all.
Although I was.not knowledgeable on the broom sedge sliding . I appreciate Jim’s explanation. Raised in Royal Oak Mich October to me was the smell of dry leaves burning as we baby boomers were assigned the chore of raking them to the edge of the street so our parents could start the fire after supper. October also meant the arrival of a package from my southern relatives . After bothering a few hogs they would mail our cracklings . Then mom would bake cornbread with cracklings for Daddy and her only child that had a taste for it. In the late fifties it was deemed the street burning of leaves caused air pollution a noisy truck drove by and vaccinated up those leaves . Football bonfires were outlawed also. Nostalgia looms large in October Mr Casada Thank you so very much for this wonderful piece. Granny and her treatments are prayed for . If you are a believer God instructs us to bear one another’s burdens. Thus I added Granny to my prayer list .
On more joyful note I am sharing the relief the deer hunter is feeling as the temperatures drop . May God watch over our nation and help us love each other . May He protect the people from fear and hate in the Mideast in the name of His Son I pray .
Like you and Tipper, John Paris is one of my favorite writers. While reading today’s blog, I found myself smiling and nodding my head in agreement. His words refreshed many wondering memories.
Wonderfully written!
Hello Miss Tipper,
Yes mam I thoroughly enjoyed this writing about the month of October as it is one of my favorite months of the year as well. This brought back lots of memories of growing up here in South Carolina and of the things we still experience during this time of the year even today. From the beauty of the fall colors to the good ole hog killings an early morning squirrel hunts as well as the excitement & fellowship of chasing those whitetail bucks in full rut. I also enjoyed training those beagle hounds & running them before rabbit season comes in at Thanksgiving to get them in shape REALLY stands out in my mind as I’ve always been a beagle hound owner & enthusiast my entire life. Great post!
Well said, Jim • life is good ……
Beautiful reading! October is wonderful and I’m ready for our leaves to turn!
Oh yes, October is all that and more. I love Indian Summer, which perhaps gives us one more opportunity to ” ready up” for winter. With time I have learned to always prepare for winter, and certain chores always take up the Autum. I love the smell and sound of crunching brown leaves, and unlike many I love the surprise of unexpected cold mornings or even a few warm days. A fast google let me now the event of Indian Simmer has some mystery, and some are even suggesting a name change. I love it because I know I will have time and warm temperature to finish clearing the garden. the four seasons are a wonderful way to live, and I have long since quit seeing Autum with sadness that the summer is over. Instead, I will enjoy each season for what it brings forth, and I am ever thankful to still find joy and wonder in all seasons. Thanks to Jim for such a great post on october.
John Parris is one of my favorite writers of southern Appalachia. Thank you Jim for this post.
Pray for Israel and our country.
Appalachia.
A lovely description of October and fall of the year! This is definitely my favorite time of year. Prayers for Granny and you, Tipper, as you care for her.
“Suffice it to be my judgment that October is a month filled with enduring wonder.” Yes, Jim. Thank you for allowing us to see lovely October through your eyes.
Tipper, how is Granny today?
Lesley-she is doing well today 🙂
Wonderful!
May God continue to comfort Granny and you all. And may He make a way where there seems to be no way.
That was just beautiful! Fall has always been my favorite time of year. Thank you for sharing.
Continued prayers for Granny and all of the family. Safe travels and enjoy the beautiful scenery as you come and go.
We’re in high color season in northern lower Michigan, a forested area. It is beauty beyond belief. I love October, too. Many thanks.
October is easily my favorite month, what a perfect description of this blessed time of year!
I do believe Jim covered all the bases. I enjoyed it because I identified with all of it, and I miss the hills.
It’s easy to see that Jim loves the month of October even if he can’t admit it’s his favorite. I’m glad I have never been asked to write about October and that is a good thing as my story would surely be as depressing as I think the month is.
God bless Granny! I start my day with a prayer that includes Granny and her family.
I love this! This is more poetry than prose. The pictures he paints are so vivid. There is one thing I still don’t understand, “It’s a kid rich in freedom while having no idea he is poor in worldly goods riding sleds made of cardboard in that same field once it has dried in the sun of an Indian Summer’s day.” I understand the “kid rich in freedom,” because I was one. But what allows him to ride a cardboard sled on an Indian Summer’s day after the frost has melted and dried. On what surface is he sledding? We used to slide down the hay stacks before Daddy hired someone to bale the hay. Maybe it is that we never grew broom sedge. If you know what this means I would like to know. Tipper, I always enjoy your posts, but this one was really special. I know you are working hard to take care of Granny. Please take care of yourself. God bless you all.
Linda–In the fall, after it has turned golden, broom sedge (grows wild on worn-out land, especially soil where lime is lacking) is slick as oiled glass when dry. A piece of cardboard on a hillside covered in broom sedge makes a wonderful sled with one notable exception. It has no steering mechanism and at the end of the slope you either have to bail out (at some speed) or allow the flat ground to bring forward motion to an end. The problem with most of the places I “sledded” as a boy was the slope of sedge ended at a pasture fence or briar thicket. Mind you, heedless chaps have a pronounced tendency to overlook such hazards.
Broom sedge would provide every bit as fine a ride as snow and both had one critical merit–the rides were free.
I did enjoy it. Thanks to you both. God Bless
What a beautiful and so correct description of fall by John and Jim. So many good times brought back to mind. Hunting and digging sweet potatoes, digging peanuts, collards, turnips, rutabagas, fall cabbage and winter squash. Soup and sandwiches, hot biscuits with butter and molasses alongside dried butter beans and fried fatback. Yes, fall is in the air. Thanks for the memories, Tipper. I hope Granny is doing well with her treatments and the travel is not too much on all of you. All our prayers and love to all of you.
Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons. The air turns crisp and the light becomes diamond hard and clear, and just as I will eat tomatoes only in the summer, I will eat apples only in the fall and winter. Now I get to add making apple butter with my cousins to the list of things I love about fall; we have a mini-reunion on the first weekend in November and make apple butter and apple sauce for everyone to take home, and it’s the most fun when it’s cold outside!
I agree with Jim about the smell of Autumn. It’s that familiar odor that brings back childhood memories every time I step outside in October. I close my eyes— breathe in deeply—and memories flood my soul and make me smile!
Without a doubt October and fall of the year is my favorite month and season. Squirrel hunting with my Daddy when he was alive, getting my bird dogs in shape, cleaning my guns with Hoppes’ No.9, getting my shells and other hunting gear ready. The smell of Hoppes’ No. 9 was better than any perfume. When I was younger I would be all over myself by now waiting for Thanksgiving Day and the hunting seasons for bird (quail) and rabbit opening in SC opening on Thanksgiving. Now I never hear or see a quail and see very few rabbits. It is all deer and turkey now. Yesterday on a 2 mile stretch of main highway, I saw 4 dead deer that had been killed over night. A lot of the other things Jim wrote about are also very familiar to me. I want to say this about my Daddy, the only gun he ever owned was a single shot, open sight model 67 Winchester 22 cal riffle. He bought this rifle new along with a cleaning rod and two box of cartridges in 1946 for $6.50. It was one of his most prized possessions. When he had a squirrel in his sights, the squirrel was done for, go ahead ahead and get the pot ready. My son now owns this old rifle and there is not enough money in the world to buy it.
As with all great writers, he has tested my pulse and, in so doing, read my mind
Absolutely my favorite time of the year here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. There is something so beautiful in the changing of the seasons.
Life began in October! At least for me. Even at the very young age of zero I was so enamored of the month of October that I wanted it all, so chose to arrive in the early morning of the 1st.
Jim has a talent for writing and I have enjoyed all his stories.
I agree with Glenda about killing. I grew up eating chickens for Sunday dinner and I was very young when the last hog was killed and wasn’t allowed outside when it happened, but all that ended early in my life and glad it did.
Inspiring … as a newcomer to the area this made me smile.
Thank you for sharing Jim’s beautiful description of October. Fall is my favorite season and he more than described it to a T.
Prayers for Granny.
I was allowed to carry my 22 to school, prop it in the corner behind the teacher and put my shells in her desk. I hunted on the way to and from school as I checked my rabbit traps. Many Fridays that teacher took home a couple of squirrels or rabbits for her Sunday dinner.
Good morning friends, it’s 41 degrees in Dahlonega Georgia, it’s about 65 in the house God bless you and your family have a great day
That was lovely!
So much in this post I can relate to. Mr. Paris ‘took me there’ with his vivid descriptions. And I feel the same about May or October. I can’t decide either. The are like opposite sides of one coin.
Wow, what a read. There are lots of words and thoughts that I have never heard nor seen and I am so grateful for never seeing a hog being slaughtered. I am a tender at heart kinda girl and even the thought of slaying an animal isn’t pleasant. I know that is how we get meat in our meals, but it isn’t something I want to think about. Silly me. Give Granny my best and hope her avenue of treatment isn’t to harsh. God Bless you guys.
I need to read more of this Paris guy.
The smell f Hoppes No 9. You never forget it!
I hid my 410 under a tree near the school bus stop so I could go straight to the woods to get a bushy tail.
David, this is an example of how much the world has changed in the last 50 years. At my high school from 1968 -1972 ( we did not have a middle school) many of the boys brought their guns to school in their cars or trucks, some of the trucks had gun racks in the back windows and their gun would be in it all day long in the parking lot and never be touched. Most of us also toted pocket knives and would be asked by the lady schools teachers to borrow it. Plenty of fights, most often over a girl, but they never went beyond a fist fight. Shoot, often the two boys would be friends the next day and the girl would be with another boy. Things sure have changed but not for the better.