My birch trees are now turning a golden yellow and the rain from the weekend had many of the leaves beginning a mat over my just mowed lawn. We are now in the early stages of the put away season. We will be closing the cabin for the winter shortly and pulling our boats. We are fast approaching the Harvest Moon. It will arrive on Thursday night.
The cabin season is now ending but not before mother nature gives us a show of her colors. The shoreline of Rainy Lake is now dotted with red paint brushes that stand out. Their brilliance on a sunny day makes cabin closure better.
It was the talk Saturday as we all sat around the table at the Seniors Center admitting that the drenching rain
reminded us of unpleasant cabin closings. We had all experienced the final trip to the cabin in pouring rain and frigid temperatures and agreed that most would see the closing of cabins on the Thanksgiving weekend. Leaving the cabin for winter is always a sad day. We hope for sunshine and warm weather.
The pantry at the cabin that has built up supplies for five months will be cleared and brought back to town. The freezer holding frozen meat in case of extra company will be cleaned. Tubs will be filled and all will overfill our pantry at home.
In the put away season, all the tools we brought out in the excitement of spring will be stored away for the next seven months. My lawn mower will exchange places with the snow blower. Ice scrapers will again find their way into our car. An appointment will be made to trade off summer tires for winter treads.
The hoses will be drained and put away and the garden will be cleaned to make way for next year. Herbs will be harvested and dried for use through winter.
In anticipation of fall and winter, I began putting six foot high screening around my cedar hedge. After the deer finished eating the flowering buds of my day lilies, they moved to eating the low hanging fruit from my flowering crabs and are now picking up the little apples from the grass. But once they have finished with the little apples, they move on to my hedge and I work hard to protect it. The black mesh protects it.
Last year the deer discovered my pyramid cedars next to the house and now they too must be protected.
Over the next several weeks, the leaves will be raked into piles and hauled to the land fill. It is a continuous process as the leaves fall at different rates, often with my lilac leaves last to hit the ground.
Everything prepares for winter.
