Old Order Mennonite Memoirs

"The wondrous shine on autumn leaves must be the golden notes

That beat on them the summer through, From songbirds' rapturous throats."

Sudie Stuart Hagar calls them Goldsmiths, those songsters that are now silent. A lone chickadee song was all I heard on my solitary hike in Sunday's sunshine. A snowy tree cricket fiddled away as the strong breezes blew from the southwest, bringing down little, yellow locust leaves like rain.

"There's a purple tint on the woodland leaves, And the winds are up all day!

There's a rustling heard in the yellow leaves, And it seems to sadly say: Sweet summer's gone away."

This song by S. C. Hanson was on our lips on Thursday when we were together to celebrate our youngest daughter's birthday. The wind blew all day and the air was filled with cherry leaves. They even landed in our trays of lunch where we ate together on the deck. Besides fresh sourdough bread with pear jelly and butter, there were green beans and cheesy potatoes with sausage. The salad was fresh from the garden and the birthday carrot cake was decorated with dusty pink hydrangeas to match the pink-fringed, yellow calendulas. Although I biked to the home of the birthday girl with a bouquet in my box, the days are numbered for such lush color. Even as we looked at the little plants for next year, we piled spent stems away from the garden in the sun and wind.

Here at home, my husband began to pick corn for this season. Like heavy, golden leaves the ears clattered into the bin, but there they waited as he dragged himself through basic chores. The achiness and the churchless Sunday put meaning into my new song:

"Ready to suffer grief or pain, Ready to stand the test; Ready to stay at home and send others, if He sees best. Ready to go, ready to stay, Ready my place to fill; Ready for service lowly or great, Ready to do His will." .....ascribed to A. C. Palmer.

The five young souls in Martinsburg church on Saturday made a similar commitment when they were baptized in Jesus' Name. They are as follows: Terence Martin, son of Jerry and Lorraine; Luke Zimmerman, son of Vernon and Anna Ruth; Arlin Newswanger, son of James and Norma; Jay Lamar Martin, son of Lloyd and Ruth; and Kenneth and Susan Fox, children of Paul Ray and Alta.

That evening in Holsinger Church Lane, at the home of my sister and her family, my niece also made a commitment and went for a first walk under the stars with the young man of her dreams.

The day had been sunny and pleasant for me to house clean my living room. With the setting in the winter way, I brought plants in from the patio for a shelter from the upcoming cold. Although I had mowed the green lawn in Wednesday's sun and wind, the falling leaves took away the tidy look. On my patio, however, the corners are still clean, thanks to my battery-powered leaf blower, a very practical tool for arms that aren't what they used to be.

After canning grape juice from Peach Hill, a rainy day was perfect to clean and organize my cellar and basement. I stacked away the picnic coolers and looked at my shining, filled jars with a heart filled with thankfulness for God who gives us all things richly to enjoy.