Yes, fall is officially here

It's here! Yes, according to the calendar, fall is officially here. The youngsters have settled into the daily routine at school and football season is well underway. We're still getting warm sunny days, but cooler nights seem to be here to stay.

The fellows from the tree trimming service have been back to clear the other side of the fence, and the pleasant aroma of cedar fills the air where they shredded the smaller limbs. Jim has the yard nicely mowed, and he and his helper have been doing some cleanup out around the garden shop and gathered items to dispose of in the upcoming citywide fall cleanup.

I had four teeth pulled a couple of weeks ago but made it to the senior center that afternoon for the first Alzheimer's support group meeting that afternoon. With my already-full schedule, I don't need another regular meeting to attend, but I'll likely drop in on some future sessions of this group as it promises to be a good source of helpful information. As for the tooth extraction, the wound is healing well and I've been enjoying a number of favorite softer foods, soups, mashed potatoes, cottage cheese and applesauce. After ordering a bowl of chili at the football game the week before last, I was ready to tackle a cheeseburger last Friday night.

I made an extra batch of green bean casserole to take to our quilt class meeting this month. The ladies seemed to appreciate it and there was plenty left over for our supper that evening. We saw several lovely quilts displayed by members of the class. Many of them will be showing their creations in the quilt show sponsored by our group and the historical museum the second Saturday of next month.

Last week was full of activities, beginning with a school board meeting Monday night, a haircut appointment Tuesday and our book study and meeting at the Kingdom Hall Wednesday night. Thursday morning, I drove to Sulphur Springs to check on activities of the county inmates working in town. The ladies who were preparing their lunch at the old school cafeteria sent me down to see their cleanup efforts at the city park. I dropped by to say "Hi" to my friend Debbie at Mom and Sons Cafe and returned to Gravette for lunch at the senior center. Then there was the open house at Ozarks Community Hospital and a city council meeting Thursday night.

The weekend was busy too. I had a new experience Friday evening when I volunteered to help my fellow Lions Club members and work in the concession stand at the football game. We manned the stand on the visitors' side of the field and got to meet several of the Lincoln band members and fans, who were quite friendly despite the fact their team was on the losing end of the score. I was up early Saturday morning to meet friends and travel to our circuit assembly in Springdale. I was gone all day, so it was nice to find that Jim had cooked a couple of small steaks and a pot of vegetables when I returned home.

I spent quite a bit of time Sunday finishing stories and processing pictures from the week's events, and we had leftovers at lunch. Jim was bored silly and upset because he didn't get to watch golf coverage when the TV signal went off. We occupied our time reading and watching a couple of old movies that night, and I slipped outside at one point to see the unusual red-orange moon.

I picked up my second copy of Ozark Hills and Hollows magazine last month and especially enjoyed "Down to the Core," the article on apples. The accompanying apple butter recipe reminded me of the many jars of the tasty stuff Mama used to make and store on the cellar shelves. The Ozark pudding recipe combines two favorite ingredients of area cooks, apples and black walnuts. Guess there won't be much of a walnut harvest at our house since the tree trimmers cut most of the limbs off the last remaining tree.

Susan Holland is a long-time resident of Benton County and a reporter for the Westside Eagle Observer. She may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.