“Finally feels like fall.”

People say it with either dread or excitement, and that tells a lot. You either love winter or hate it. The lowering light, turning leaves, and chilly mornings, the smell of moldering vegetation and early dusk are visceral reminders of what’s in store. We know in our bones what’s coming.

When I had a partner to weather the winter with, there was no down side. We could survive anything: howling blizzards, snow that buried the mailbox, -25° mornings, even the occasional frozen pipe. After all, he carried in the wood, methodically cleaned away the snow from vehicles, driveway, and doorsteps, shoveled out to the hen house, carried the water.

I built the fires, made the soups and stews, baked the beans, piled on the quilts and comforters, kept us cozy.

Along with so much else that changed when Wally died, the sense of deep well-being at the coming winter has changed. A slight frisson of fear has crept in, adding spice to the anticipation.

To be honest, this year, since my son and his family moved in upstairs, I’m not facing winter alone in this rambling old place. Once again the wood magically appears in the woodboxes and most mornings someone else will wrestle with starting the snowblower. The dinner hour, the evenings are alive with voices and footsteps from upstairs, the sounds of a beginning clarinetist and of a budding guitar player filter down. I don’t feel as alone at those times, though the empty chair opposite mine, the quiet loom, the unread books speak volumes.

Thankfully, I’m not facing the overgrown garden alone. An old friend, Janet Halsey, once told me how she loved the first frost, the one that blackens the tomatoes, that frizzles the annuals, and turns the Brussels sprouts sweet. At last, she said, it’s over. And that coming from a dedicated gardener.

Today assorted members of my upstairs family will be out in force to help me tackle what’s left out there. First up will be the carrots, two long rows of them. They were planted in one of the huglekulture beds, where sticks and branches were layered with weeds and other garden trash spring before last. I wondered how carrots would fare competing with such impediments, but they seem to be fine; the ones we’ve been harvesting this summer are long and well-formed.

We’ll pull them up, break off the tops leaving a stub behind, brush off the dirt and lay them in milk crates on a bed of wood shavings (got a bale from Aubuchon), being careful that they don’t touch. Next a layer of shavings and then another of carrots.

I’ll feel a pang at the sight of all those feathery, green tops, greenery that we’d gather up and present to Cocoa, the Shetland pony that for some 20 years shared the pasture with whatever cow we had at the time. Cocoa’s long gone, as are the cows, but succulent bits from the garden such as pea pods and corn cobs and carrot tops always evoke their memory.

The beets come next, two kinds: the old standard Detroit Dark Reds and the Bulls Blood beets with deep burgundy foliage. We pull and store them the same way as the carrots, but we’ll freeze the greens to use in soups and such.

Our cellar, which until recently had a dirt floor and rock walls, often had a tiny stream trickling through it, seeping in through the front wall and out the back. Then we had it encapsulated in plastic to make the house warmer and the cellar drier. The heavy white plastic covers the dirt floor and the stream which still flows under it. Though I hated to see this evidence of our house’s foundation covered up, the loss of what was a functional root cellar was worse.

We did manage to build a large, insulated box with its back open to one of the rock walls before the plastic wrap went in. The box stays cold as the outside ground freezes and holds the crates of root vegetables including the buckets of potatoes we dug a few weeks ago.

The cabbages are waiting to be made into sauerkraut, the Brussels sprouts for the first hard frost, the dry beans to be shucked, the pumpkins to be picked, the apples to be pressed. The garlic, harvested back in August, trimmed and stored in bags in the pantry, will be planted – the largest bulbs, that is – along with the daffodil and tulip bulbs, any day now.

Twenty-three raised beds make up our garden and ideally, as each is harvested, we’ve pulled the weeds, layered them over the bed and covered it with a blanket of seaweed, wood ash and manure to decompose over the winter.

Does that happen? Do we actually get all that done? Probably not, but it’s a good goal, don’t you think?

School

Get your Halloween pumpkin this Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the eighth grade’s annual sale at the Beach; the pumpkins come from Beth’s in Warren, and proceeds from their sale go into the kids’ class trip fund to Quebec in the spring.

The first Student of the Month assembly will be held this Friday, Oct. 12, 2:30 in Walsh Common.

Library

Knitting and Needlework meets Tuesday, Oct. 9, 4-6 p.m.  Escape to the library - enjoy the charming atmosphere for a friendly, sometimes lively, gathering of talented fiber-loving enthusiasts.   Bring a project – knitting, crochet, felting, embroidery – all needle crafts are welcomed.   

First Annual Lincolnville Roadside Cleanup

Join the Midcoast Waste Watch on Friday, Oct. 12, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 13, 9-noon to clean Lincolnville's roadsides! All supplies will be provided. Meet at the Lincolnville Community Library at the beginning of each day, or come anytime during the cleanup to be assigned a road and pick up supplies. This event is sponsored by Midcoast Waste Watch and the Lincolnville Community Library.  

Lincolnville Historical Society

Regretfully, the LHS has decided not to continue with the Community Birthday Calendar. Thank you to all who have supported the Calendar over the years; tuck away this year’s for a memento of the past.

The Schoolhouse Museum has ended its open hours for the season. However, call Connie Parker, 789-5984 to arrange an appointment to visit or to do research during the winter months. The Jackie Young Watts Open Air Museum at the Library will be open for a few more weeks before it’s buttoned up for winter, so stop by and see the displays including the large map showing Lincolnville’s early settlement.

Making Christmas Cards

Edna Pendleton is holding an all day Christmas card-making workshop, Saturday, Nov. 3. All materials will be provided; charge for class is $25 with a $10 deposit by Oct. 22. Bring a lunch; beverages and snacks will be provided. Her regular card class will be Nov. 7, 9 a.m.-noon, making Thanksgiving/fall cards, $10 fee. Sign up by Oct. 31. Contact Edna at 763-3583 or by email to sign up and get directions to her house.

Favorite Shops

Now that the crowds are thinning out, it’s our turn to enjoy wandering through our local stores. One of my favorites is Home Supply in Belfast, the hardware store located between Colburn’s Shoes and the Green Store. It’s a real old-fashioned hardware store complete with oiled wooden floors and every imaginable item you could ever need to do almost anything around the house and yard. I love to walk up and down every aisle, marveling at the extent of the inventory in the place. I always come out with a few things I suddenly realized I need: a sink drainer/basket thing; 3 wooden dowels and a drill bit to match, Brillo pads, a couple of hinges, a utility knife.

Have you got a favorite shop or place to eat in the midcoast area? Let me know and I’ll mention it.