09 Sunflower Potted Blooms

09 Sunflower Potted Blooms
September heralds canning, bringing in the harvest for the winter around Wisconsin homes.  Tomatoes, squash, onions, and the last of the potatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and beans abound.  The women gather to put down the garden fruit of their labors, and to share the burden of work that the garden takes to provide for families all winter and spring long.  Some of the tasty things we put up are sunflower seeds and that is why sunflowers herald Autumn and all that the shortening days bring.  There is wood to lay up for the wood stove besides taking the last picnics and hikes in the woods.  September will see a few more weeks of swimming pool weather but then it will be done until next year.  Winter clothes will be taken out of storage, and summer clothes packed away.  Autumn is the time for preparing for the cold winter weather coming all too soon, but at the same time, it is the start of the holidays.  Soon Halloween will be here then Thanksgiving and when the days are at their shortest, Christmas and the hope of our Savior's birth and it always makes me long for Him to return now as triumphant King, not the humble servant this time.