FALL IS IN THE AIR
Ken Batten
September 18, 2025
There's just something about feeling that first cold bite to the air on a September morning. Some of the leaves are starting to change and you can hear the honking of the Canada geese as they fly overhead in their "V" formation winging their way south.
And there's that unmistakable smell of fall in the air that always brings back so many memories. The earthy smell of dying leaves and plants and occasionally the sweet smell of wood smoke.
Now that I'm older I'm inclined to favor late spring and early summer, but for most of my life, fall was my favorite time of year. The sights, smells and sounds during the slow progression of fall brings back strong feelings from my past of home and family. It also brings a bit of a feeling of dread of what's to come. The long gloomy nights of early winter and short bone chilling days. Of course it's never as bad as you imagine, but it is a good mental motivator to make sure you are prepared.
Even though I'm living in the modern era, I still have some of the worries that have been around for generations. Is my woodshed full? Is my house winterproofed enough? Is my garlic planted and mulched? Pretty minor stuff compared to what the old farm families had to do.
I've always liked the term fall better than autumn. Autumn sounds a little snobbish and formal. Apparently my American forefathers felt the same way. Autumn and fall were used in Britain before the 17th century. Autumn came from a Latin word and fall came from the phrase "the fall of the leaves," which was later shortened to fall. Fall became the preferred word for the season in North America, while England leaned towards autumn.
Even the sound of the two can conjure up different emotions. If someone says autumn is approaching, you may think of sipping pumpkin spice latte by a warm fire. If someone tells me that fall is just around the corner, my mind starts racing, thinking of all the things I haven't done to get ready for winter.
Farmers always have to make sure that they have plenty of feed for their livestock. In times past farmers had to make sure their barn was full of hay, the silos filled with grain and that they had a good source of water that wouldn't freeze. They also made sure that they had plenty of firewood for heat and cooking. And the cellar had to be filled with food for the family and hired hands.
We only had a small flock of anywhere from thirty to a hundred sheep, a few cows and a couple horses when I was growing up. We still made sure to put up enough hay throughout the summer to fill our old 1800's barn from the ground right up to the rafters.
The woodshed had to be filled with enough wood to last through the winter. There was an Ashley woodstove for heat in the living room and a Home Comfort in the kitchen for heat, cooking and for heating water in an iron water heater.
In the cellar we had a potato bin full of potatoes and carrots packed in leaves, along with shelves filled with jars of vegetables and preserves that my mother had canned. Getting ready for winter was a lot of work, but it was just a part of life and we learned how to have fun while we were working. We were so busy with school that time of year we only had to do our regular daily chores and worked some on the weekends.
It wasn't all work though. We lived in one of the freest, most beautiful places in the world and we made the best of it the best that we knew how. I would love to talk more about it, but fall is coming and I've got to get busy.
Ken Batten grew up on a small sheep farm in West Topsham VT. He was a logging contractor, soldier and rural mail carrier. He now lives in North Hyde Park VT with his wife Tina-Marie. Ken can be contacted at kenbatvt@gmail.com or PO Box 5 N Hyde Park VT 05665
And there's that unmistakable smell of fall in the air that always brings back so many memories. The earthy smell of dying leaves and plants and occasionally the sweet smell of wood smoke.
Now that I'm older I'm inclined to favor late spring and early summer, but for most of my life, fall was my favorite time of year. The sights, smells and sounds during the slow progression of fall brings back strong feelings from my past of home and family. It also brings a bit of a feeling of dread of what's to come. The long gloomy nights of early winter and short bone chilling days. Of course it's never as bad as you imagine, but it is a good mental motivator to make sure you are prepared.
Even though I'm living in the modern era, I still have some of the worries that have been around for generations. Is my woodshed full? Is my house winterproofed enough? Is my garlic planted and mulched? Pretty minor stuff compared to what the old farm families had to do.
I've always liked the term fall better than autumn. Autumn sounds a little snobbish and formal. Apparently my American forefathers felt the same way. Autumn and fall were used in Britain before the 17th century. Autumn came from a Latin word and fall came from the phrase "the fall of the leaves," which was later shortened to fall. Fall became the preferred word for the season in North America, while England leaned towards autumn.
Even the sound of the two can conjure up different emotions. If someone says autumn is approaching, you may think of sipping pumpkin spice latte by a warm fire. If someone tells me that fall is just around the corner, my mind starts racing, thinking of all the things I haven't done to get ready for winter.
Farmers always have to make sure that they have plenty of feed for their livestock. In times past farmers had to make sure their barn was full of hay, the silos filled with grain and that they had a good source of water that wouldn't freeze. They also made sure that they had plenty of firewood for heat and cooking. And the cellar had to be filled with food for the family and hired hands.
We only had a small flock of anywhere from thirty to a hundred sheep, a few cows and a couple horses when I was growing up. We still made sure to put up enough hay throughout the summer to fill our old 1800's barn from the ground right up to the rafters.
The woodshed had to be filled with enough wood to last through the winter. There was an Ashley woodstove for heat in the living room and a Home Comfort in the kitchen for heat, cooking and for heating water in an iron water heater.
In the cellar we had a potato bin full of potatoes and carrots packed in leaves, along with shelves filled with jars of vegetables and preserves that my mother had canned. Getting ready for winter was a lot of work, but it was just a part of life and we learned how to have fun while we were working. We were so busy with school that time of year we only had to do our regular daily chores and worked some on the weekends.
It wasn't all work though. We lived in one of the freest, most beautiful places in the world and we made the best of it the best that we knew how. I would love to talk more about it, but fall is coming and I've got to get busy.
Ken Batten grew up on a small sheep farm in West Topsham VT. He was a logging contractor, soldier and rural mail carrier. He now lives in North Hyde Park VT with his wife Tina-Marie. Ken can be contacted at kenbatvt@gmail.com or PO Box 5 N Hyde Park VT 05665
In the 1980's I was logging with Larry Whiting. This is a photo I took of a load of firewood that we brought to my parents house. On the left is Jimmy Butler who helped us with firewood sometimes. On the right is Larry leaning on his pickup. In the background is my Dad's barn, filled with hay for the winter.
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