A few days of Indian Summer restored our faith in the weatherman. We deserved it after the miserable summer we had. Today they predict a cold front and rain for tomorrow; we need that also.

Small batches of leaves are drifting down, but they are not enough to notice. It will be a while before the great onslaught arrives and workers begin collecting them by the truckload. The colors have gotten pretty around the open circle and a very few flowers have escaped the first couple of frosts.

These beautiful days have prompted a lot more dog walkers than usual, and the parade by our unit is quite varied. One very tiny dog with a small lady goes by every few days. So does a lady with a beautiful big Golden Retriever. In between are several poodles, a small Scotty dog, and a pair of “sausage dogs” – cute as can be. There is a very polite short hair dog that walks slowly along the roadside, hoping to startle a squirrel. A beautiful big Boxer takes his mistress on a rapid walk – they never seem to slow down.

Ripe red dogwood berries are providing a feast for the birds. The shagbark nut tree out back is giving the squirrels something to store in their winter hiding place.

I recall a year when I was in the midst of jam and jelly making, that Laurie and I discovered wild grapes on the outskirts of town. They were high up, laced into some trees. We were frustrated but finally got a couple of big pails full. They were fragrant and juicy and we jelled and jelled until we ran out of appropriate glasses. Thereafter I made a few jars of grape juice, in quart jars. I don’t imagine there are any grapes left in that area – a housing development nearby has cleared most of the land. Every fall I think of that bountiful gathering of grapes and wish I could do it again!

Another fall treat I well remember was a time in Vermont. We were at our camp and our friends Eleanor and Bob Lewis had discovered some Beechnut trees over in Andover. We took a basket and for the first time ever, I gathered a large supply. These tasty little nuts are clustered in several triangular groups, inside a dainty cinnamon brown burr. I’ve heard that bears are especially fond of these autumn fruits, and I can understand why; they are very tasty. I kept out a tin of both nuts and the burrs, to use in decorations. They are very scarce in this area – again because the trees are sacrificed to development.

Butternuts can still be found in our area. They are exceptionally hard to crack open and yield a modest nutmeat. But they are also used for decorative things, including buttons. When sliced the nutshell is a perfect button shape.

My grandmother had a basket full of hickory nuts, all dried and ready to crack open. When she planned to make a special kind of cake or fudge, she bribed someone to take a flatiron and hammer and crack open a big bowl full. With a nut pick, she would scoop out the flesh from the shells and put them aside for use in the baking.

Many such projects were accomplished in the evenings – there was no television, not even radio, in the early days.

Walt Disney was the author of the words that ended last week’s column.

Who said, “My candle burns at both ends; it will not last the night.

But oh my friends and oh my foes, it gives a lovely light”?