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...

Fall is definitely in the air. The mornings are cool, enough so that I need a jacket for our walk. The sunflowers are ready to be cut out after the gold finches picked them over until all the seeds are completely gone. And the robins are moving through. I've not seen them all summer, but this morning, quite a few were in the driveway and yard. Yesterday, as I drove home after visiting with a friend for the afternoon, the killdeer seemed to be grouping in preparation for migration. I don't think I've ever seen so many killdeer my entire life. I love living where we have four very distinct seasons. Fall is my favorite of the four. It just seems like we're being told to slow down, relax, enjoy. I really try to listen and do all three as often as possible. I worked a bit in the yard over the weekend, mostly removing the tall sunflower stalks and other ungainly weeds growing alongside the house. I'd left everything alone this summer just to see what was already here, and...