Cold Night

I complained a lot last year that Florida doesn't give me what I need as a homesteader. How the extended summers tend to make me want to pack in more non-winter activities, like starting new crops or continuing to harvest ones that should be past their prime, when others are storing potatoes in cold closets, collecting gem colored leaves and stacking up fire wood. That the rhythm of the seasons is lacking down South, giving less time for chores regulated to winter months. I need to hear the music of the Earth as she travels through her stages. The world just doesn't seem to turn properly without experiencing the changing guides of nature, like a broken record Florida skips the beat of fall.

The sad part is that Autumn and all her majestic glory are lost to me in this never ending sea of green. Considering it is literally my favorite time of year doesn't help. It's the only time I love. I do miss the color changes, the signals of nature that scream summer is at an end. I miss the fall spices that linger in the air, the treats that can only be called Autumn and are created from her bounty. The crisp smell of a new fall day as the air snaps against chapping lips. The need for scarves and hats, gloves and boots. I want the comfort of thick socks and the crackle of a strong fire.

But I'm stuck here in the Sunshine State and I'm learning, if ever so slowly, to live with it.

We got our first cold night a few days ago. And while the weatherman calls for rising temperatures later this week, I snatched up the opportunity to feed Autumn to my soul. A smattering of cold fronts is all I get and I need them like I need oxygen to live. I gobbled up the cold armed with Mexican hot chocolate and seven layer bars. Smiling as the heat from the dehydrator is now a blessing instead of the curse it is in summer when it heats up the kitchen and dissuades me from cooking.

I love this season so much even this morning when my fingertips were near frozen while changing out the chicken water I just couldn't be annoyed about it. I gather up these cold nights and hug them close. I use them to battle the relentless heat and tide me through the lack of true seasons, doling them out one by one to see me through till the next dash of cold nights.