Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

The weather has finally cooled off. I'm so ready for fall, and the 70-80+ degrees was killing me. Give me 50's and below, please. I need my sweaters, sweatshirts, and sweatpants. I keep saying I'm going to move further north. I need to follow through, move to Wisconsin or northern Michigan. Maybe Minnesota. I like summer with the heat, the sweat, the cold showers, but I love the cool of fall and the cold of winter. I love wrapping myself in a fleece blanket and sitting out on the porch in the mornings, with my cup of hot coffee, watching the steam rise. I also love making soup and homemade bread. My kitchen is a mix of odor right now. On the stove is acorn squash soup in the making. A holiday candle is going near the sink. I really don't know why I lit the candle. It just seemed like a fun thing to do while I stood and washed the dishes. It's time to blow it out and let the soup fill the house with thyme and nutmeg. Soon the bread will be in the oven to add its deli...

Mist rose from the hillside this morning when Ado and I set out for our walk. The hot days then nights cooling way off effect. The night temps have dipped so much since the rain moved through last week that I've had to wear a sweatshirt for our early morning walks along the still-quiet streets. I love this time of day. Before everything gets hectic. Before someone says something that makes you pause or something happens that makes you just shake your head. The entire day has been absolutely gorgeous. Sunny but a cool breeze to keep the heat at bay. The sky without a single cloud. Yesterday on my way to work I noted how there were no clouds whatsoever. When I started home later in the afternoon, the clouds had moved in but they were just puffy white fluffs drifting slowly along. Today I figured the same would happen -- clear blue in the morning but fluffy clouds in the afternoon. I was wrong. There are no clouds. Just the blue expanse. Yesterday Angel Baby arrived home from work...

Great Blue Heron This morning dawned much cooler than what we've been experiencing the last two weeks. With all the windows open, the bedroom was very chilly, and I had to pull the summer quilt tightly around me to find some warmth. Part of me wanted to get up and ride, but being snuggled under the quilt, still sleepy after a night of hearing several parades of college students walking by between midnight and 3 am, loud and obnoxious, I drifted in and out of snoozing for over an hour. The thought of french toast spurred me to get up and start the day. After breakfast and a quick run to a bike sale in the alley behind some guy's house (still no mountain bike), I finally pulled on the shorts and jersey to set off. Hubby had agreed to meet me up at the lake and ride around it with me, so I started off only to find myself heading straight into a stiff wind. With the cooler temps came the wind, and I felt like I was right back in March when I was prepping for BTUSFMS. Every da...