the arrival of fall

As I am writing this, my fingers feel partially frozen from hanging up my clothes to dry outside. I'm hoping the exercise of typing will warm them back up again.  Winter is creeping into the población;  as long as it rains the temperature seems to stay up, but it hasn't rained in a few days now.  

Even so, it really hasn't gone far below the freezing point on most nights.  The hardest part is that it's generally colder inside the Casa Ursulina than out.

Fall is hard to describe.  Often the days start fogged over with the windows covered in frost, but end in stunning sunsets.  Despite the encroaching cold, there continue to be new blooms on the rose bushes and cala lilies are springing up in front of the house.  The first rains of the season left the ground blanketed in a layer of fledgling green grass, and so, except for the falling leaves, it looks more like spring than the beginning of winter.

 For a country that makes the most of any opportunity to have a party, Chile seems to be surprisingly lacking in fall celebrations and festivals.  However, we have been enjoying the changing colors of the leaves and eating boiled chestnuts to mark the season.  Since turkeys are mature at this time of year in Chile, we had a mock Thanksgiving dinner, complete with cranberry sauce from the US and stuffing made with my grandmother's recipe.  

And Carola's family decided to have a "fiesta de zapallo."  We have a gigantic squash vine spreading through our backyard, and it is finally time to start harvesting.  The idea was for everyone to invent something edible from any kind of squash.

In my completely unbiased opinion, I'd have to say that the gringas stole the spotlight with the best creations.  We invented a hot alcoholic pumpkin drink and made a pumpkin roll cake. Both disappeared long before the night was over.  Other highlights of the night were grilled squash with melted cheese and oregano, and pumpkin cooked in melted brown sugar.