Sorghum
Oil on canvas, 30×30

By Carrie Jacobson

The trees are starting to change color, even on the Eastern Shore. It’s not much, a tinge of orange here, a patch of yellow there. It’s slight, but it is undeniable, and in its way, exciting.

Farmers have cut the corn fields. Birds are flocking up. The squirrels, which are few and far between here in Virginia, are making a racket. And if there are still hummingbirds around, I haven’t seen them in a day or so.

A friend brought a cabbage over the other day, and it was huge and fresh and sweet. On the road to the mainland recently, I saw men picking pumpkins and squash.

I love the falling chill of the nights, and snuggling close, and pulling the blankets tight around my shoulders. I love putting on long pants for the first time, and finding my sweatshirt, and knowing that soon, I’ll be wearing my denim jacket and my scarf and my soft, warm boots.

I’ve gotten soft here in the south. A temperature of 70 sends me looking for an extra shirt these days. And while I am glad about fall, I am far more glad that winters here bring little or no snow.

And soft as I am, I am not yet as soft as whatever neighbor has the woodstove burning, even as I sit here in my open-air garage studio, loving the feel of the autumn wind.

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I’LL BE PAINTING up your way, entering a piece in a wet-paint auction, and showing my new work at an outdoor festival, and it’s all happening this coming week!

The Olana Plein Arts Festival takes place Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 3-5, at the historic home of Frederic Church, in Hudson, NY. I’m one of 30 artists from across the country, chosen to participate in the event. I’ll be painting outdoors on Thursday and on Friday morning, and entering a wet plein-air piece into the wet-paint auction on Saturday.

On Friday afternoon, I head to Pound Ridge near Westchester for the Pound Ridge Fine Arts Festival, which takes place Saturday and Sunday.

If you’re around, please consider coming to one or the other, or both! And please say hello when you do.