Windfall

 Wasn't that wind last night something?! Howling at my window, throwing things at my house and roof- broken plexiglass is scattered in my yard, so someone somewhere is missing a window. And while I appreciate the fact the yard was swept clean of maple leaves from my tree, I'm now finding locust tree leaves everywhere.

"Whose yard are these from?" I wonder.

It's interesting what thoughts a windstorm can generate. Upon seeing my neighbor begin to rake the apples in her yard, in the photo above, I ran across the street and said, "I'll take them!" I recently purchased a dehydrator and am having a lot of fun making apple snacks I'll send to my grandchildren.

I was ruminating about the word "windfall" while gathering these. Until I moved up here, I only heard the word "windfall" in the news in relation to tax breaks or corporate business.

"The etymology of that word must have come from something like this," I mused, "long before the business connotation." 

Just looked it up. "Originally literal, in reference to wood or fruit blown down by the wind, and thus free to all. Figurative sense of 'unexpected acquisition' is recorded from 1540s." Thanks etymonline.com.

More wind is expected the next few days. I plan to leave time open for gathering more windfall. It's a fun word to say.

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