Amazon | Time for Love

Harvest Season in the Central Valley

By Janice Seagraves

Living in California along HWY 99, the agricultural corridor in the Central Valley, I’ve seen the harvest season is in full swing all my life. I actually live in the middle of an almond orchard, which is across the street from raisin grapes. And down the road is a packing shed for peaches and nectarines.

Early each spring the almonds put on blooms. And they are beautiful.

Photo from Janice

As soon as the blooms are pollinated by bees they start turning into nuts.

Then the harvest begins. First the shakers come and I hear at five in the morning: zoom, zoom, ratatat, shush. The noise is the wheeled machine, clamping on the truck of the tree and shaking the living daylights out of it until the nuts fall off.

Next the blowers come, making a great deal of dust, and blow the nuts into a neat row, and then the sweepers come and sweep up the nuts, place them on a convers belt where they are deposited into semi-trucks. The trucks take them where they are processed, so you can purchase them at the store as a healthy snack.

Janice’s latest release, Matrix Crystal Hunters, is now available. It includes a harvest scene. You can find it Amazon. Readers can find Janice online at her website, Janice Seagraves, on Twitter @JaniceSeagraves, and on Facebook: Janice Seagraves. She is an author, blogger, artist, and photographer.

From Christina: I loved reading Nikki’s autumn memories. Falling in love can be beautiful in any season, but I think there’s something special about autumn romance. What do you think?

Fall Memories

There is definitely something about autumn that is appealing. Maybe lately it’s that now that I live in Arizona, I’ve already been sick of the hot weather for months and anticipate a nice cool down — the kind of temperatures and crisp cool air that I can sit outside on my swing with a good book and just enjoy the peaceful time.

I’ve always loved the season of autumn though. It means the last few months of that specific year are going to be filled with fun and festivities. Back to back holidays that have a lot of meaning and memories. Piles of leaves to jump in with best friends.

My husband and I fell in love during the fall. We were both going through hard times in our lives and turned to each other for friendship and support. Before we got together, we’d been friends for six years. We were both in different relationships when we met, but we became good friends. The year we got together, fall had just arrived.

Photo by Christina

We used to take midnight walks, very long ones, and talk about things. Our problems, how to handle them and what the next chapter in each of our lives might be. Who knew that it would lead to us discovering feelings for each other? I never expected that. But that’s exactly what happened.

Between our late night walks, talking about everything and the changing of another season, life changed things up for us and started something that every time I think back on, despite some of the crazy drama that happened around our getting together, it’s something that I think back fondly on.

That was nearly six years ago. We’re now married with a four year old and still enjoy that time when the weather gets cooler and we can take those late night walks. It used to be we pushed our son in the stroller and he would be soothed to sleep. Now, he actually walks with us. We don’t go as far as we used to, but we still get pretty far because our kiddo has a lot of energy and can walk a nice distance without tiring. Hmm. I think he gets that from his parents.

So every year, I look for the magic of fall. The changing of seasons, the promise of something good. Maybe I’m a bit of a dreamer…wait no, I KNOW I’m a dreamer, but there’s something about the magic of autumn that I long for all the time.

About Nikki:

Nikki Lynn Barrett lives in Arizona with her husband and son. She’s an avid reader, a dreamer, and loves everything about books. She runs a book blog, an online used bookstore, and writes various genres of romance. Nikki can also be found outside with her camera when a storm is near, snapping photo after photo. Her dreams of becoming a writer started when she was young, when she started writing books in one subject notebooks by the fifth grade. You can visit Nikki at her site, Welcome to My World, for more information. She is working on her next book. Nikki would love to hear from readers. Email her at nikkilynnbarrett@yahoo.com. Her books are available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo. She does book reviews at Storm Goddess Reviews.

Keep Each Other Cozy: Fall Dates (everythinggirlslove.com)