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Muscadines

 
Most of us associate the smell of burning leaves with autumn, but another scent some of us remember is the aroma of ripe muscadines.  If you are walking in the woods where the muscadines are abundant, you can smell them before you see them.
 

Looking for muscadines in the woods used to be one of my favorite things to do in the fall.  Many years ago, when my sons were still little boys, we spent one fine Sunday afternoon looking for some ripe muscadines.  We found them, a copious amount hanging from vines that had grown in the trees so high, it was impossible to reach them. The ground underneath the trees were covered with the ripe ones that had fallen.
 
 
There was a dead tree, similar to this one, that I sat on and picked up the muscadines for about an hour.  We got a bucket full, then walked home in the mellow late afternoon sunshine.  That night, my back began to itch, and I asked Hub to check to see if I had a tick.  Turns out I had thirty-five seed ticks, and Hub used alcohol and tweezers for about an hour before he got them all off.  I have never looked for muscadines in the woods again.
 

Lucky for me, we have luscious vines growing along the fence in the backyard that are full of muscadines this year.  We enjoyed spending time with our neighbors yesterday afternoon while we picked them.  So far, not a tick in sight!

 
Hmmm, wonder what I can do with all these muscadines?
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