We are about to embark on the prettiest season of the year in my opinion. When I renovated Hickory Heights, I had that in mind.

I added a window on the back side of the house so I can see what goes on behind my house and I added a bay window on the east side. It depends where I am sitting what I watch.

Yesterday I watched several deer play out back. There were some young ones as well as older ones. They were just enjoying the cooler weather, I think.

They chased each other around running back and forth for me to see. This morning I saw a deer run right up the road. It was running fast but I could not see anything chasing it.

When Don was around, we fed the deer. It seemed like we bought a lot of corn. He would take the pails out back and talk to those deer while he was feeding them. Often, I watched from the couch. Those deer seemed to listen to him talk. As soon as he walked away, they were there to eat. He got mad when the turkeys arrived to finished up the grain, but oh well, they needed to eat too. The third winter we were not allowed to feed them. Don missed that.

I used to watch the birds in my kitchen, but two trips on my porch by a bear put that to a stop. I missed my birds the rest of the summer. I also watch deer out that window.

Often deer venture right into my bed to munch on my shrubs. Then, I chase him/her out.

I recently read something about there being seven senses. That was new to me so I read on. They listed smell, hearing, touch, taste, sight, laughing and love. Although we certainly need to laugh and love I do not consider them some of the basic senses. They are critical to our being, but not basic senses.

Fall basically plays to our five senses. We smell the leaves. We hear the crunch of leaves as we walk.

We can reach out and touch the leaves as they fall as well as collect them for various projects. We taste the fall in cider, apples, and pumpkin flavored everything these days. I have seen pumpkin flavored cereal as well as beverages, breads, muffins, and pancakes. While I enjoy the breads, muffins and pancakes I am not so fond of the cereal.

I do enjoy apple and pumpkin tea. As soon as I see the teabags in the store, I purchase some and brew myself a cup of tea.

I drink nearly as much tea as I do coffee. I prefer to drink the tea later in the day, I suppose because then it does not interfere with my sleep.

Lastly, we see the beauty of the deciduous trees as the leaves turn bright red, orange and yellow. At Hickory Heights the leaves are beginning to turn. It will be a while before we have peak color.

I did not have to trim back my Hosta this year because the deer took care of that. I did not have any pretty leaves or flowers this year. There is a price to pay for living with wildlife. I do like to co-exist with the animals. After all, once upon a time animals wandered around the area on their own. We are the interlopers. Although my home is over one hundred years old that is fairly new to the animal kingdom.

I grew up in the city, not a large city, but nevertheless, it was the city. Even in the city I enjoyed nature. We went out every fall and collected horse chestnuts. Recently someone posted a picture of some horse chestnuts asking what they were. Of course, I knew.

I also liked the goldenrod that grew up by the railroad tracks. Although I was unable to enjoy bouquets of the stuff, it was fine in the wild. The purple asters grew right beside of it. I also remember the blue chicory that grew up by the railroad tracks. I see it along the road here every once in a while, but not often. There used to be a road that ran between Washington Avenue and Park Avenue by the railroad tracks but I was disappointed to learn that has been closed. We used it all the time when I lived there.

Tonight, is the official Harvest moon. Hope it is clear so that I can see it. It is always such a pretty sight. It is the precursor of what is to come.

Ann R. Swanson writes from her home in Russell, Pa. Contact her at hickoryheights1@verizon.net.