The shifting of the season toward winter has put me in a mood. Sometimes I find words written by someone else that express my thoughts more eloquently than I can. Last week I encountered this poem by Robert Frost (a poet I especially love) that did just that.
Reluctance
by Robert Frost
Out through the fields and the woods
And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world, and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended.
The leaves are all dead on the ground,
Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
When others are sleeping.
And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
But the feet question ‘Whither?’
Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?
The hills and fields have changed from the last of autumn’s brighter colors to shades of brown. I think that most people don’t find the color brown very interesting. No one tries to breed brown flowers. Brown flowers are dead flowers. When fruit is brown, except maybe for coconuts and kiwis, it usually isn’t a good thing. In Stacey’s family they disparage wearing brown clothing, usually commenting “brown and down” when they see it. Although it’s not my favorite color, I do like the color brown. November is a brown month. But that doesn’t mean it’s drab. Well, it is drab since drab is actually a shade of brown, but it isn’t drab as in “dull.” Besides drab, there are hundreds of shades of brown. As I was out and about during the week, I took notice of the various browns around us now. There are some lovely names for the different shades of brown with interesting origins. Drab, like a lot of the names for brown colors, comes from the cloth and dying trade. It was originally a term for woolen cloth of a particular shade of yellowish brown. Khaki comes from a Hindi word meaning “dust colored,” the color of the cloth used in uniforms worn by soldiers in India. There’s tan, named for the color of the dye derived from the tannins in oak bark. Russet is the color of wool tinted in dyes derived from the plants woad (Isatis tinctoria) and madder (Rubia tinctorum). Beige is the pale brown color of unbleached wool. Then there is taupe which is the color of a French mole (that’s the animal, not a dark spot on the skin, a spy, or a spicy sauce – although mole sauce is a rich shade of brown). Umber, burnt umber, raw sienna, and burnt sienna, are brown pigments made from iron and manganese oxide ores found in Umbria and Sienna in central Italy. Sepia is a reddish brown color made from the ink of the cuttlefish. Then there are food related browns – chestnut and chocolate and cocoa. Buff comes from the color of a type of leather called buff, which got its name from the hide of the Aurochs, an extinct type of wild cattle that once roamed Europe and was known as the “Buffe.” From that we get “to buff,” meaning to polish and make something attractive using the soft rough surface of buff leather, and “in the buff” meaning naked, and someone who is “buff,” meaning well-built and attractive. So a person could be buff (attractive) in the buff (naked) with buff colored skin. Brown is an interesting color. By the end of the week, the world wasn’t very brown anymore.
Reluctance
by Robert Frost
Out through the fields and the woods
And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world, and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended.
The leaves are all dead on the ground,
Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
When others are sleeping.
And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
But the feet question ‘Whither?’
Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?
The hills and fields have changed from the last of autumn’s brighter colors to shades of brown. I think that most people don’t find the color brown very interesting. No one tries to breed brown flowers. Brown flowers are dead flowers. When fruit is brown, except maybe for coconuts and kiwis, it usually isn’t a good thing. In Stacey’s family they disparage wearing brown clothing, usually commenting “brown and down” when they see it. Although it’s not my favorite color, I do like the color brown. November is a brown month. But that doesn’t mean it’s drab. Well, it is drab since drab is actually a shade of brown, but it isn’t drab as in “dull.” Besides drab, there are hundreds of shades of brown. As I was out and about during the week, I took notice of the various browns around us now. There are some lovely names for the different shades of brown with interesting origins. Drab, like a lot of the names for brown colors, comes from the cloth and dying trade. It was originally a term for woolen cloth of a particular shade of yellowish brown. Khaki comes from a Hindi word meaning “dust colored,” the color of the cloth used in uniforms worn by soldiers in India. There’s tan, named for the color of the dye derived from the tannins in oak bark. Russet is the color of wool tinted in dyes derived from the plants woad (Isatis tinctoria) and madder (Rubia tinctorum). Beige is the pale brown color of unbleached wool. Then there is taupe which is the color of a French mole (that’s the animal, not a dark spot on the skin, a spy, or a spicy sauce – although mole sauce is a rich shade of brown). Umber, burnt umber, raw sienna, and burnt sienna, are brown pigments made from iron and manganese oxide ores found in Umbria and Sienna in central Italy. Sepia is a reddish brown color made from the ink of the cuttlefish. Then there are food related browns – chestnut and chocolate and cocoa. Buff comes from the color of a type of leather called buff, which got its name from the hide of the Aurochs, an extinct type of wild cattle that once roamed Europe and was known as the “Buffe.” From that we get “to buff,” meaning to polish and make something attractive using the soft rough surface of buff leather, and “in the buff” meaning naked, and someone who is “buff,” meaning well-built and attractive. So a person could be buff (attractive) in the buff (naked) with buff colored skin. Brown is an interesting color. By the end of the week, the world wasn’t very brown anymore.
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| Different browns around. |
While I was out and about admiring the brown world, I stopped to visit several of the wild apple trees that still have fruit hanging on them. We have a lot of wild apple trees here. A few of them are the remnants of old orchards from long vanished farms, but most of them come from the deer who eat apples – other wild apples and apples from orchards like mine – and then distribute the seeds in their droppings. Apple DNA is complicated. They have a genetic property called extreme hetrozygosity, which means that the seedlings are very different from their parent trees. When you plant an apple seed, you never know what you’re going to get. That’s why domesticated apple trees are always grafted, which is really just cloning the parent tree. So all of our wild, deer sown apple trees have unpredictable fruit. Sometimes the fruit is awful – tart, bitter, mealy, or dry. But sometimes they can be wonderful – sweet, juicy, and crisp. Many of the most famous apples on the market came from trees that were “discovered,” not bred intentionally. These chance seedlings have given us apples like the Baldwin, Jonathan, McIntosh, Northern Spy, Red Delicious, Granny Smith, and many others. I’ve long dreamed of discovering one of those wonderful chance seedlings in the woods or along a road that turns out to be the Next Great Apple. And so I sometimes visit local wild trees to sample their fruit. I haven’t found a great one yet, but I’ll keep looking.
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| A few of the wild apples. |
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| Wild apples - none of them very tasty. |
I finished winterizing the barn last week. I ran an electric cord down and set up the heated waterers. I finally had to retire the rain barrel. It’s had ice on it a few times, and until yesterday I’ve managed to break through it to get water, but I had to concede defeat at last. Now I’ll have to carry water down from the house every day. I also washed all the barn windows. They were pretty dirty and during the dark days the birds need all the light they can get. I only have one thing yet to do – I need to get rid of some roosters. I have five of them. One is my old rooster, two were hatched out earlier in the year by Lola, and the rest came as chicks I got from Bob and Nancy Jones. I haven’t seen any bloody battles yet, but the old rooster bullies the other young ones. I only need one rooster. It makes for a more peaceful flock. So I have to decide which one to keep. I’m leaning toward one of the Buff Orpingtons that I got from the Joneses – a beautiful bird and a pure breed. The old rooster and the ones that hatched here are all mixed mutt chickens. I don’t know what I’ll do with the extras. We won’t kill and eat them. They aren’t meaty birds and would be too tough to be palatable. I thought of taking them to the Amish auction to sell. I don’t really expect to make any money on them, I just want to get rid of them. We’ll see what happens.
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| Time to retire the rain barrel. |
On Wednesday after school, I spent the afternoon working on a few last things outdoors. I finished moving mushroom soil. All the raised beds are full now. There is still a small pile of mushroom soil left, but it will have to sit until spring now. At the end of the day, I gathered up my garden tools and put them away for the winter. I unhooked the garden hose and took it down cellar. As the sun went down, I stood on the back porch stairs and surveyed this little piece of earth I love so much. I felt satisfied and sad at the same time. All my plans and dreams for the Garden of 2019 are finished now. I had some successes and some failures and I learned from them both. As I stood there watching the darkness fall, the orchard, the vegetable garden, and the flowerbeds seemed quiet and at rest.
Our son-in-law Tosh arrived again on Wednesday to finish his work for Stacey’s employer. He brought his dog Winston with him again. Having Winston around makes things interesting. He likes attention. When Tosh isn’t here, Winston follows me around and nudges me all the time. When I go upstairs, he goes up ahead of me and waits to nudge my face when I get to the top. Stacey and I took him with us when we ran errands on Saturday. He likes to ride in the car. He's kind of like having a hyperactive child around.
Our son-in-law Tosh arrived again on Wednesday to finish his work for Stacey’s employer. He brought his dog Winston with him again. Having Winston around makes things interesting. He likes attention. When Tosh isn’t here, Winston follows me around and nudges me all the time. When I go upstairs, he goes up ahead of me and waits to nudge my face when I get to the top. Stacey and I took him with us when we ran errands on Saturday. He likes to ride in the car. He's kind of like having a hyperactive child around.
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| Winston waiting at the top of the stairs to nudge me. |
On Thursday, the day started out cold and rainy. I only had a half day of school and as I drove home, the rain began to turn to snow. I was home by myself all afternoon. I know it’s still early, but I couldn’t resist listening to some Christmas music. The mood of the day demanded it. I put on the Celtic Christmas albums I-IV. The music was so full of memories that I was overcome by nostalgia and I had to just sit in the dim afternoon light and watch the snow fall and listen. When the music was done, it was time to do the chores. I bundled into my barn coat, boots, and work gloves and went out. There was a two inch deep layer of wet snow on the ground. The chickens and the peacock did not run out to greet me as they usually do. They were all inside the barn, out of the snow. I fed them, gave them fresh water, and collected the eggs. On my way back to the house, I stopped to fill the bird feeders. The summer birds are long gone and only the winter birds remain now. I love to see them. They are one of the things that make the dark days bearable. I filled the two feeders with sunflower seeds, spread some seeds on the window shelf, and put out two fresh suet blocks. There were chickadees and juncos in the tree above me waiting for me to finish. As the sun set behind the snow clouds, everything turned pink. It was beautiful. When I came back into the house, I made a fire in the wood stove and sat in the quiet and read until everyone else got home. I love a bit of quiet, but I’m always happy when my family comes home.
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| Thursday afternoon. |
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| Pink sunset on Thursday. |
Another thing that keeps me happy in the winter is having flowering plants in the house. I brought all of my potted geraniums (technically they are pelargoniums) into the house a month ago and trimmed them back severely. Some of them have started to bloom again. Their bright blossoms make me smile. On the window shelf in my bedroom I have five Christmas cacti. Three of them have started to bloom now. If I’m lucky, they will keep on blooming into next year. And on the orchid shelf in the music room, one of the little oncidium orchids has two flower stems emerging. It has never bloomed for me before, so I don’t even know what the flowers will look like. I’m excited to see them. I love flowers in the winter.
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| My geraniums. |
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| My Christmas cacti. |
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| Oncidium flower stems! |
Friday morning I awoke to find the world plastered with three inches of crusty snow. I heard the snow plow down on the highway beeping as it backed up at the end of our road in the pre-dawn darkness. As the morning grew lighter, I looked out at the snow. It was pretty in a miserable sort of way. When it was time to leave for school, I couldn’t get the car doors open. They were frozen shut. I had to pound away ice to free them. Then I had to scrape snow and ice from the windshield. I was almost late for school. I have to remember to allow time for that sort of thing from now on.
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| Friday morning. |
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| Friday morning. |
Saturday was a busy day. It usually is. Hannah and Miriam are down visiting the Thayns this weekend and Tosh was out working all day. Stacey and I ran errands in the morning. We drove up to Wellsville so Stacey could clean the church while I went to buy chicken feed at the Tractor Supply. I buy feed every other week. Later that afternoon I spent time unloading 200 pounds of feed into buckets and missing Josiah all the while. When we got back from Wellsville, we drove out to the Amish store. We took Winston with us. He likes car rides. Then in the afternoon we did laundry and other household jobs. Saturdays are always busy for me. That comes from my “get everything ready for the Sabbath” training that stretches back into my childhood.
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| Out and about with Winston. |
Today is the Sabbath. Tosh and Winston left for home early this morning. We’re home from church and waiting for lunch. It’s warm enough, barely, that most of the snow has melted. But the forecast says there is a mass of cold air coming this way and more snow tomorrow and Tuesday and Thursday. I guess I’m as ready for it as I’ll ever be. Miriam and Hannah will be home later this evening. I lit a fire in the wood stove and I can hear it crackling quietly. That’s a comfortable sound. I think I’ll find a book and relocate myself to its vicinity.
