Fall in the 40s

We lived in central Minnesota growing up, back then it was "back in the woods" now it is a housing development. Back then all of us neighbor kids would get together and rake leaves and see how big the pile would get then everyone jump in and try and get covered up. We would all come up sneezing and full of leaves sticking to our clothes, but laughing and so happy. Then we would rake the leaves into piles that were manageable and one at a time we would burn each pile careful that nothing spread. The smell of burning leaves still sends me back to those carefree days. A evening time we would gather branches and make a small bonfire to roast marshmallows hot dogs if any of us were lucky to have them. the fun was being together doing simple things, telling ghost stories. Strange we did not have our parents looking over our shoulder, or warning us of the dangers of what we were doing. We were all for one and one for all. No mater the age differences Ruthie Ann and I were the youngest and our brothers and sisters were older and there.
We would take gunny sacks,( city people might not know what a gunny sack is) and we would go picking hazel nuts that grew wild in the woods , more on the edge of the woods. then we would drag them back and set about peeling the husks off and putting the hazelnuts in a pail. It was a lot of work but so worth it when it was a cold winter night and we could get some out and enjoy the fruits of our labor ( of course checking for worms).Fall was a good time, the berries we picked all summer, the veggies tended and our mom canned made sure that we ate all winter. Of course my dad and brothers bought home venison and wild game. Mom would can the fish they brought home and it was the best.I asked her for her recipes for the fish canned in mustard and some in tomato, but she had forgot them.
We had little anytime but we had food, warmth, and laughter.Good thing we have those memories of a gentle time even with war going on and the after math of it. Life was good,