And October begins, 2017

           What a gorgeous day this has been! It is a beautiful time of year in Mink Creek. Fall colors announce the season in the mountains and the valleys. Evans Hill on the south side is full of the red of the maple leaves amongst the dark green evergreens and the tan spots of hillside fields. Those red leaves stand out like exclamation marks up and down the length of the community. Bits of orange color is scattered here and there. Our quaking aspens' leaves offer a variety, trying to decide about staying bright green or starting on the way to being the yellow orbs of autumn. The dark brown stalks of Indian tobacco stand at attention on the creek banks and border the canals and fields of our village. Add all of this to a clear blue sky and plenty of dark green forest and it is the picture of our daily surroundings.

            It is time for the '17 Roundup of livestock that have been grazing in the Cache National Forrest during the past summer months. After the gathering this involves some sorting, the work to keep them separated before hitting the road back down the canyons. Time to “head 'em up and move 'em out'---in the direction of home pastures.

            JoAnn and Kevin Auger were up from Woodland Hills, UT for a short visit with JoAnn's brother and family, Glen and Betty Jo Jepsen. The Augers were returning home after a few days at island Park.

            Preston High School has two young ladies from Mink Creek on their cheerleading squad. McKinley Longhurst is a Senior, a daughter of Candy and Sheldon Longhurst. Hayden Egley, a Junior, is the daughter of Juli and Jared Egley.

            Joe and Kathy Jarvis attended the missionary farewell meeting for a grandson, Jackson Jarvis, in Fruit Heights, UT. He will be serving in the Australia, Sydney North, Mission. The following weekend the Jarvis family held a mini-reunion at Bear Lake. Along with Joe and Kathy, the family of Jennifer and Jeff Seamons, all boys, participated in this event that brought siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles together for a wrap-up of summer months.

            I wrote the first paragraph  six days ago.  Since then, days of rain and getting colder, it is that time of year. But it is still beautiful, colors still vibrant, time to get out my camera before it is gone. Anyone trying to harvest a 4^th crop of hay is challenged trying to get it dry enough to bale. There was even a little snow that fell yesterday. This morning we woke up to frost all around. It is definitely harvest time. The ever-bearing raspberries are doing well this fall, but it is challenging to pick them in the wet and mud. Guess it depends on how great the demand is at home for raspberry jam in the winter months and beyond.