Jan Goldyn, Author

You know that feeling -- when just the other day the sun from a clear sky slightly reddened your cheeks and you found a place in the shade, sipping water to cool down?

But today, the morning brings a mellow chill to the air. Bits of sun peek here and there from behind gray-white clouds highlighting splashes of orange that offer a hello from the mountainside. This is apple crisp weather!

As I sit on my porch swing with a mug of coffee, I pull a thick patchwork quilt over my legs and think about the small apples under my dad's tree near his garden, many of which are dried up or brown.

"Those need to be raked, but there's still some good ones there!" Dad's words yesterday came from a place where nothing was ever wasted. I knew he was calling me to action -- to do the valiant thing and put use to nature's gifts.

While I sit lightly swinging, watching the chickadees at my feeder I plan my day. Do I have oatmeal, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon? Yep, I'm sure I do. I'll take them with me to dad's where we'll rake up apples and save the nice red ones, dad pointing them out to me as we work. Later I'll peel our gems, cover them with the sweet crumbly topping and let them bake while dad and I drink our hot tea on the back porch.

Soon after, the homey, cozy smell will drift from the kitchen. I'll think about us later enjoying the warm dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Dad will say "Boy, that's good." My heart will say thank you, dad, for reminding me of the simple things and sharing with me an "apple crisp day."