The leaves were mostly off the trees, night came earlier and there was no more playing outside after supper. The wine-coloured chrysanthemums had started to fade in the backyard. The wooden fruit baskets we had collected from neighbours were stacked on the veranda ready to be returned to the Niagara farmers, and cartons of Girl Guide cookies were waiting in the hallway to be delivered. It was a time in limbo — fall was almost over and winter not yet begun.

But when my mother was on the phone most of the day and night, we knew that the fall church bazaar was just around the corner — with home baking and white elephant tables, and half of the church basement cordoned off for serving tea and coffee, along with sandwiches and sweets. For several years, my mother was the convener of the event. I was conscripted to take a shift at the white elephant table.

The week beforehand, my........

© Peterborough Examiner