Faith, Folklore, and Friends

Beautiful September! You bring us nights with raised windows, snuggling under quilts in the wee hours. You mark the time with morning glories  and turn the roadsides yellow. You remind the hummingbirds that it is time to migrate, to journey over a thousand miles to places with warm winters. They know they will have to be fat for the trip, so they fight for the feeders, flashing their ruby throats for our amusement. You sober us with the knowing--summer, the time for growing and gathering, for swimming and playing, for travel and iced tea, no matter how wonderful or fruitful it has been--summer always ends. September. So beautiful, you strengthen us during the transition, and help us face the winter that will surely come. To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.   Eccle...

'Tis the last rose of summer, Left blooming alone; All her lovely companions Are faded and gone. ~~ Thomas Moore,  The Last Rose of Summer, 1830

When the first cool night shows up in September, I start craving apple cake.  My mama always made apple pies, and if I ever learn to make them like she did, I'll post it here.  I cannot remember her making apple cakes.  After Hub and I married, I learned that his mother was an expert at making apple cakes, and I was instantly hooked.  Of course, this cake can be made all year long, but they just seem better in the fall. Here's how I do it. You will need 1.5 cups of vegetable oil, 2 cups white sugar, 3 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring, 2.5 cups plain flour, 1 cup pecan pieces, 3 cups finely chopped peeled apples (Granny Smith if you have them), 2 teaspoons cinnamon.  Grease a Bundt pan and turn oven on at 350 degrees. Mix the sugar, oil, and eggs together. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together; add to the egg mixture.  Mix. I buy pecans ...

Try to remember the kind of September                       When life was slow and oh so mellow Try to remember the kind of September                     When grass was green and grain so yellow Try to remember the kind of September                      When you were a young and a callow fellow Try to remember and if you remember                   Then follow--follow, oh-oh.    Try to Remember , Lyrics by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt  On this day when we remember horror, grief, and hopelessness, be still and be comforted by the beauty of God's creation all around us.

Beautiful September! You bring us nights with raised windows, snuggling under quilts in the wee hours. You mark the time for sweet potatoes and cotton and corn harvested. You remind the hummingbirds that they will have to migrate soon, over a thousand miles to places with warm winters. They know they will have to be fat for the trip, so they fight for the feeders, flashing their ruby throats for our amusement. You sober us with the knowing--summer, the time for growing and gathering, for swimming and playing, for travel and iced tea, no matter how wonderful or fruitful it has been--summer always ends. September. So beautiful, you strengthen us during the transition; help us face the winter that will surely come. To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2