Fall is almost here with all its possibilities. Friday marks the arrival of the annual autumnal equinox and the days will begin to grow noticeably shorter. We’re having cooler days and nights and good rains over the weekend have helped green up the lawn. There’s a fresh, clean feel to the air punctuated occasionally with the scent of wood smoke. Pumpkins have appeared in the local grocery aisles. We’ve put a blanket back on the bed and Jim has turned up the heat in the living room stove.

Grandson A.J. came over a couple of Saturdays ago and helped Jim put the garden to bed. He pulled up the tomato cages and stored them away, then mowed off most of the vegetation. They left a few Brussels sprouts and a yellow pear tomato that’s still producing. Other tasks included digging a few onions, trimming a couple of bushes in the back yard and burning some clusters of webworms from the pecan tree near the shop.

Fall is football season too, and the year is off to a good start with the Lions posting victories in their first three games and our Razorbacks winners as well. We traveled to Oklahoma for the kickoff game with Jay and attended the McDonald County game as well. I went to Lion Stadium again the next night for the annual pee wee black and orange game, and great-nephew Austin’s little black team won 30-6. A good rain earlier in the evening failed to dampen the spirits of the faithful family and friends on hand.

A friend brought us some nice crisp apples last month. I like to slice them and dip them in caramel sauce for a tasty snack, but there are many ways to enjoy this favorite fall fruit. They’re a natural for desserts, baked in a pie or sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar and layered in a warm bread pudding. Woman’s Day food editor Holly Sheppard suggests making applesauce parfait, layering applesauce, reduced-fat sour cream sweetened with sugar and crushed gingersnap cookies in parfait glasses or dessert dishes.

In this harvest season, when apples are abundant, don’t limit them to dessert or sauce. Glazed apple slices add a delightful contrast to a smoked pork chop or center cut ham steak. Try Granny Smiths or Rome Beautys grilled with chicken breasts and sweet potatoes. Or combine them with crunchy celery, chopped walnuts and scallions to make a Waldorf salad. Apples and cheese have a natural affinity, so bake up a batch of hearty muffins using sharp cheddar, a chopped cooking apple, walnuts and a little maple syrup.

Not only are apples delicious, they’re good for us too! Studies have shown that this healthy food may help improve lung function, reduce the risk of heart disease by protecting against the damaging effects of “bad” cholesterol and reduce the risk of certain types of cancer. One medium apple, with the skin, has five grams of dietary fiber, almost as much as a whole head of lettuce.

Finally, by eating apples you’ll be carrying on anold Ozarks tradition. This area of the state was once noted for its production of high quality apples and many carloads of fruit were shipped out to market. Benton County was known as “The Land of the Big Red Apple” and county apples often won top prizes in competition at the state fair.

Regional writer Fred Starr wrote of them in his book “Of These Hills and Us” over 50 years ago in a chapter titled We Look to Autumn Coming: “The apples have been plucked from among the frosty moorings of the spreading trees out in the odor-laden orchard and are now stored in barrels and baskets in the cellar to await their nights of unveiling, when there will be tall tales spun over jugs of cider before a blazing hickory-log fire in the front room. Sometimes goldendelicious and staymen winesaps will be roasted in hot ashes, at others baked in the hot oven, and at still others their mealy goodness consumed in the raw, for hasn’t the Doctor said, ‘An apple a day will keep disease away?’”

Susan Holland, who works for the Westside Eagle Observer, is a lifelong Benton County resident.

Opinion, Pages 6 on 09/21/2011