By Wenda Grabau
As the summer wanes and the onset of autumn appears, it is easy to notice things that are changing.
The landscape highlighting the delicate white blooms of Queen Anne’s Lace in summer now supports the brilliance of autumn’s goldenrod. Wild cucumber vines which have been undercover climbing up and blanketing nearby sturdy supporting plants, now show what they have been up to. Their white blossoms deceptively display their beauty while setting up the next year’s pernicious onslaught of native plants and trees. Soon the glorious changes of color in the forestland will signal the beginning of the woodland’s dormancy as the earth takes its rest from its work in summer.
Our garden has seen changes. It has given us sweet corn to enjoy and to put in the freezer for tasty winter pleasures. Now those corn stalks are gone and fed to our cattle. We harvested a cantaloupe that looked like a basketball for size. It weighed over 12 pounds. Tomatoes are starting to ripen. Sauces for pizza and spaghetti, and catsup-making will keep me busy for a time. The apple crop from our trees ripen in August and September. They have already made their presence known in my kitchen. I freeze, freeze-dry, and can them. The apple tree’s limbs which hung heavy from fruit are now reaching for the sky relieved of their burdens.
During my last day baling hay, the barn swallows followed me as I drove the tractor down the furrows. Diving gaily down and around, they scooped up flying insects before me as the tractor, the baler, and the hay wagon rolled along. A few days later, dozens of swallow gathered on the farm right outside my kitchen window. I enjoyed watching them flit around on our trees’ branches. Now they are gone. Their migrating must have taken them away for the time being.
Soon last year’s corn will be shelled and sold. The corn cribs will be emptied and made ready for this year’s corn crop to dry in.
Our flock of chicks are now adult hens and roosters. The roosters have learned to crow and are attracting a nearby coyote.
Yes, time is changing things whether for good or for ill.
Even with the changes in life that we all must face, there is strength available for us to go on into the future. In Joshua 1:9 (KJV), our Lord says, “Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; for the Lord thy God is with thee wherever thou goest.” How good to know that our God has not left us alone in any circumstance. He is always near.
Chocolate Marshmallow Bars
1 package mini marshmallows
½ cup chunky peanut butter
1 (12 ounce) package chocolate chips
½ cup butter
Put miniature marshmallows in the bottom of a 9×13-inch pan. In a double boiler, melt chocolate chips, butter and peanut butter. (A microwave works for the melting, too.) Spread mixture over top of marshmallows. Put in refrigerator to set. Cut when firm.
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