The Rural Voice, 1987-11, Page 54SALES & SERVICE
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5.' THE RURAL VOICE
NOTEBOOK
THE SEASON'S BLESSINGS
IN THE BEAVER VALLEY
by Cathy Laird
From high hilltops looking down on
a quilt of rolling farm land or from low
valleys looking skyward through
glowing maples trees, the highways and
backroads of the Beaver Valley reveal
the splendour of autumn. With a
characteristic October wind gusting,
fallen leaves are lifted in a swirling
dance to meet other leaves descending.
The foliage of harvest time puts on a
grand show, with colours ranging from
burnt orange to copper, goldenrod
yellow to deep forest green.
Stately walnut trees,
black maples, and dangling
willows show no sign of
losing their leaves as yet.
Tall elms compete with
hydro wires along the
roadsides. Stringy poplars
reach heavenward. Pine
and other evergreens dip
and dive with the wind,
reminding us that they will
stand faithful and green
through the coming winter
months.
The wildflowers finish
blooming, leaving feathery
brome grass, delicate
outlines of wildcarrot
flowers, and patches of
puffy cat -tails to mark the ditches. Wild
grape leaves of lemon yellow hang on
vines, grasping futilely at the passing
summer. Climbing Virginia Creeper
uncovers a comer country church,
starkly exposing the brick wall and
stone foundation.
Stacks of wood piled by back
entrances and sheds indicate winter's
approach. Sheets snap viciously back
and forth on clothes lines, and piles of
raked leaves are redistributed by the
impish wind. An older couple ambles
down the street, watching a man cut his
lawn for perhaps the last time of the
season. Young boys ride bicycles down
quiet neighbourhood streets, calling
across to each other. A late afternoon
softball game has drawn a crowd at the
community centre ballpark. A
fisherman leans against a bridge and
watches the muddy flow of the river
water below.
The progress of the harvest is
measured by the passing farms. On one
side of the road, half a cornfield is
already cut; on the other side, a whole
field waits for the combine. Swaths of
red clover stretch out in neat rows and
dark drown slashes of earth mark
recently plowed furrows. Cattle, sheep,
and goats graze in pastures, savouring
the last taste of green grass.
Black Angus cattle are
silhouetted on a hillside
beside a grove of flaming
amber maples. Modern
houses have been built
recently on many comer lots,
causing speculation about
whether the farmer had to sell
part of his land to subsidize
himself.
This year's apple crop is
"terrible good!" as described
by an apple producer in the
Beaver Valley. Apples are
plentiful and later than
normal, the Macintosh
variety still being picked in
some areas. Young trees
touch the ground under their burden of
bright red fruit. Branches are so laden in
some trees that they have broken and
split away from the trunk.
Nature gives northern inhabitants a
radiant autumn, so that when the land is
bleak and white and cold we can see
spring and the eventual return of autumn
in our memory's eye. This is a season to
be thankful, even after the turkey
leftovers are gone.0
Cathy Laird lives at R. R. 4, Owen
Sound, where she and her husband,
John, and his brother, James, own a 350 -
cow -calf operation. The mother of
three, Cathy belongs to the Chatsworth
Agricultural Society and was one of the
seven original members of the
Concerned Farm Women.