First fire of the season

Around here, it's obvious that fall has finally arrived. Temperatures are consistently in the 60's, signs advertising straw and fresh pumpkins are popping up all over town, and apple cider has once again appeared in the groceries. The trees on our property are waving golden and red, and scores of huge, beautiful rust-brown beech leaves are starting to appear scattered across the backyard.

Today, the temperatures really took a dive. With a high of only 54 degrees, a steady cold rain, and occasional wind gusts, it's the kind of day that I only want to do one thing: read a book next to a blazing fire.

So, this morning, I fed and watered the animals, then bedded everyone down with fresh straw and shavings. Once they were all set, I retired into the house for a double-helping of farmer's eggs and apple cider, and set to work getting a good fire going.

The leftover logs from last winter are nice and dry this year, and they sure caught fast compared to last year. Within just a few minutes, the fire was busily spreading over the wood. I filled the tetsubin (Japanese tea kettle) over the fire with hot water, whole cloves and cinnamon sticks, and within just a few minutes the whole house was full of Autumn.

Seeing a fire in the fireplace again reminded me that I've only lived here for a year now - almost to the day. Even so, the fireplace already seems so nostalgic. I remember what a wonderful feeling it was to smell woodsmoke and hear the crackle of the fireplace last year - after living in the city with a small gas fireplace, it was absolute heaven (and still is). Byron and I burned wood in the fireplace almost constantly last fall and winter - and the fireplace even got us through a full week without any other source of heat. To say that I have a lot of affection for our hearth would be a severe understatement.

The only thing missing today was a book to read. I'm waiting on a small order of books to arrive in the mail, so the timing was a little off. But there's so much else to work on that it's not such a loss. With any luck, the day will be spent cleaning house, and making homemade pasta to stash and freeze. And if I'm really lucky, I'll have time to take Bandit and Willow out for their first run in over two weeks. I might like the fire and the cozy house, but I like the cold fall weather just as much.