#hotapplecider

You think you know what autumn looks like.  The trees go all red and blazing orange and gold, and wood fires burn at night, so everything smells of crisp branches.  The world rolls about delightedly in a heap of cider and candy and apples and pumpkins, and cold stars rush by through wispy, ragged clouds, past a moon like a bony knee.  You have, no doubt, experienced a Halloween or two.  Squeeze your eyes closed, as tight as you can, and think of all your favorite autumns, crisp and perfect, all bound together like a stack of cards.  Try to smell the hard, pale wood sending up sharp, green smoke into the afternoon.  To feel the mellow, golden sun on your skin, more gentle and cozier and more golden than even the light of your favorite reading nook at the close of the day.

“As we push into the last October afternoon, the crisp air gives our lungs just the slightest icy tingle.  It’s a day for Apple picking, or pumpkin carving, or mulling cider with whole spices…”

It was the perfect autumn day…cool and crisp, bright sun against a brilliant blue sky, smoke curling out of chimneys, leaves swirling…The ideal day for a trip to a pumpkin patch, then to a tiny cafe for cups of hot cider…Then home with the memories of a perfect day, to enjoy a good book in the beautiful late-afternoon golden fall light.