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In regions where fallen apples are abundant in October, a fresh cider would complement this collection of simple yet succulent dishes exquisitely. In lieu of apples or sans local orchards, one may serve the South’s house wine, sweetened iced tea, tweaked with the season’s spice. Mixing rosemary into the simple syrup for an iced-tea recipe adds a complexity to the tea, layering flavors as leaves layer on the forest floor. The bouquet of black and green teas is paired with the pine-like flavor said herb lends and is then enhanced with sugar and accented with citrus and floral notes from a lemony garnish.

For floral arrangements and table décor, I relish in creating a still-life of objects found in nature, shed from animal and fowl, tree and vine – the likes of acorns, fruits, pods and plumes as well as textures found on the farm, such as burlap and twine. I favor a more muted, non-traditional color palette for an autumnal tablescape; for, I’ve found inspiration in the internal soft fleshy orange of cut gourds, the coppery salmon of sliced persimmons, and of the external colors and textures of citrus rinds, garnet pomegranates, sea green artichokes, and eggplants – a depth of purple aubergine only begins to describe.

Shed deer antlers can serve as a beautifully natural centerpiece to a tablescape inspired by the earth. The sun bleached bone is aesthetically striking and equally evocative of the season’s cyclical passing into winter. Clusters of gathered goose and pheasant feathers, the fallen traces of a flight southward, are a gentle reminder of September past. Oyster shells, acorns, and gourds can be easily and artfully scattered down the table’s center, adding variations in texture, cadence, and charm.

Each of these objects is found in nature – in the garden, the marsh, or the woods. A tablescape of natural artifacts of seasons past serves as a tangible memory, or trophy, a memento mori of the growing seasons, which, with the entrance of autumn, are on the cusp of turning to winter, that ultimate season of rest. Even if your home is not within a shell’s throw of a pecan grove or a low country marshland, the bounties of fall – pecans, sweet potatoes, and garden greens – are all thankfully found at market. These simple luxuries are elegant reminders of our connection to the inevitable and cyclical process of the transforming seasons, of our relation with the ever-changing natural world around us. From the forfeit of leaves, through this time of thanksgiving and to the bracing for another year’s end, fall ushers us into cornucopias of delight, natural grace and elegance – a culmination of the seasons’ pace and rhythm – into a tableau of all things truly bright and beautiful.