The Best of Days: Summer CSA 2018 – Week #20 – Oct. 17th

The Best of Days

In her book, Beloved, Toni Morrison writes:

“In Ohio seasons are theatrical. Each one enters like a prima donna, convinced its performance is the reason the world has people in it.”

Having grown up in Ohio, Morrison’s quote is spot for me. Summers were hot and humid. Winters were cold. Both Spring and Fall were these bursts of color; the former pregnant with promise, the latter a celebration of what once was.

A Wisconsin transplant, this quote still stands true to me.

For a couple of years we had a crew member who was born and raised in California. We would defend our places of origin, verbally jousting back and forth. He hated the crazy weather here in the midwest. I thought living in California, with all that sunny and 70 weather, would get old after a while.

He would argue that really I was just jealous of California. I mean, who could really complain about sunny and 70?  And while I did and still do see his point, I think that Toni Morrison is on to something. I think without the drama of the promise of constant change, I’d be missing something big.

Wisconsin weather, while sometimes crazy, is part of a beautiful cycle and story that we get to witness unfold each year. The drama of crisp blue sky snowy days, air lush with lilac, the feeling of warm breeze and hot sun on the skin, crinkling leaves and cool breeze in the fall. It’s all one big backdrop that impacts our days, our moods, our actions.

These seasonal changes keep us connected to our natural world in a deep and primal way. And the fact of their change leads us to savor in ways that we might not if we were always spoiled with sunny and seventy.

It’s the long, crazy cold winter that’s makes us Wisconsinites savor our short summers. It’s the heat and humidity that makes fall feel so lovely.

Rain makes one appreciate dry. Dry makes one appreciate rain. Cold makes one appreciate hot. Hot makes one appreciate cold.

Whether you think of the weather as a ying and yang, or a prima donna, it’s change keeps us in the orb of the always push/pull of wanting and gratitude.

Which brings me to today. I can’t help but walk around beaming with energy today. It’s just the most perfect fall day. Party sunny, and in the 50s. Yes! Yes!  The colors and smells outside are lovely. The coziness of coats and hats is divine.

And of course, for me this fall weather marks the beginning of the slow down. As we harvested kale with particles clattering of the leaves onto the ground yesterday morning, it’s clear that our time to be in the fields is winding down. Just a few more field projects on the list (carrots, beets, parsnip, leeks out; garlic planted; strawberries mulched; cover crop all bare ground) and our field season will come to an end.

I leave you all with gratitude for your support this season. As well as a big huge smile on my face as I enjoy the cool, fragrant autumn air.

Sincerely,
Farmer Cassie

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