“Isn’t it beautiful out?” I said to my husband Steven as he and I were driving down the road. The reds, oranges and yellow colors of the leaves were even more intense against the crystal blue cloudless sky. “I don’t think I’ve seen a prettier fall in a long time!”
“Yeah, it’s pretty.” Steven agreed with little enthusiasm in his voice.
I looked over at him. “You don’t seem very thrilled.” I said. “What’s wrong?”
“In order to get this beautiful fall you have to have a cool, wet spring and summer.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Okay. Maybe it was a little wet but look…” I pointed out my window. “Ta-da!”
“I wasn’t saying ta-da when I was fighting root rot and our garden wasn’t giving us many tomatoes this summer.” He grumbled.
“True.” I nodded my head. “We did have a freezer full of sauce the year before. In fact, we had so much that it almost got us through the whole winter.”
“That sure didn’t happen this year.” He reminded me.
“Yeah.” I sighed. “I think I only got a half dozen containers of sauce this year. The way we go through it that’s not even going to be enough for two months.”
“Exactly.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I can still make a good sauce with canned tomatoes.” I was trying to make him feel better when we were about to pass a tree that was so orange it almost didn’t look real. I was just about ready to point it out to him when he continued.
“I also wasn’t saying ta-da when we only got a handful of potatoes, either.”
“But the few we got were delicious!” I tried to be upbeat.
“You weren’t the one fighting root rot and fungus all summer long.”
“Okay, you’re right.” I finally agreed. “It was a terrible year for our garden.”
“On the other hand, we did get a lot of green peppers.” He reminded me. “So that was good.”
“I’ve already got them sauteed with onions and in the freezer ready for whatever we want to put them in!” I added.
He looked over at me. “Did I tell you I picked another basket full yesterday?”
“Really?” I looked confused. “I didn’t see them on the counter. Where’d you put them?”
Steven thought for a moment. “Either I left them on the table in the garden or I might have left them on the back porch.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll check when we get home.”
I looked over at him and smiled. “See? The garden wasn’t a complete bust this year. So can we get back to enjoying this beautiful fall weather and these gorgeous trees?”
“Sure.” He said as we continued down the highway.
Several minutes later… “You know a few rainstorms and all these…”
“STOP!” I cried looking over at him. “Are you kidding me?”
Steven started to laugh. “You’re so easy to tease.”
“How have we stayed married for so long?” I was shaking my head.
“Because I make you laugh.” He reached over and squeezed my hand. “That’s why.”
Slice of Life 