Ahhh, it’s autumn, my favorite time of year. Unfortunately, the water treatment plant a few blocks away, doesn’t shut down for this particular reason. So, I strike a match and light some candles that transport me to a perfect fall, where I’m dressed in high boots and my fanciest church goin’ bonnet as “Paw” drives us in the covered wagon to the annual Cider Festival. Too bad my sister Mary’s blind but thankfully, her sense of smell is so astute she guides the way, “Hang a Louie at the rotting orchard,” she shouts, “Take a Rhonda at Old Man Crow’s tool shed.” Maw baked her prize winning pies and each of us are responsible for carefully holding one on our laps as we traverse the pre-industrialized, long, winding country road. The smell is like heaven but as usual, Mary won’t stop describing it in flowery detail. Now Paw’s praising her genius and Maw’s eyes are lighting up like there’s a pair of angel wings coming out from Mary’s backside. What about me? I’m the one who loves you the best! Mary might be prettier than I am, she might be smarter, she might have a hotter boyfriend than I’ll ever have, but I’m your half pint Paw! I’M YOUR HALF PINT!!!

This Little House on the Prairie episode was brought to me by Botanica Candle Company with help from scents like Pumpkin Pie, Pine Needle, French Vanilla, Frankincense & Myrrh, Yuletide and Hot Apple Pie. Available in votive’s, tarts and diffusers, each one has the seductive power to make you pull off your bloomers and take a bath in a barrel underneath the Harvest moon.

Sheehan McGuirk