Friday, November 18th, 2011

I got up early this morning. It was windy and the wind was roaring through the leafless trees. Normally the time change makes me crazy and it takes me a full two weeks to readjust to the single hour change. But this morning I was grateful it started to get light early.

If you look on the left side of this photo, you can see the flag moving in the wind. The wind is from the south today which normally keeps the air warmer. But the wind chills are in the mid-20's and it's cold. We know winter is coming. We try to stave it off by doing whatever outdoor chores we can before the snow comes. Don was out picking up leaves again, I went around and picked up all the fallen branches and threw them on the outdoor fire pit. But by now, there are probably hundreds more branches blown down. If we used our fireplace it would be a constant source of kindling. We don't know if the fireplace works yet. We haven't had anyone out to look at it.

The deer come every evening around 5:00 p.m. to munch on the apples. People around here sell "deer apples" and people use them as bait to lure the deer close. Gun season started this past Tuesday. We hear shotgun blasts regularly throughout the day, starting early in the morning. But at our house, we let the deer come close and munch on the apples in peace.

Out in the garden there is a plastic beach ball blowing around everywhere. It started out as part of Dolly, our scarecrow, and gave her an impressive bustline. Later, halfway through the summer, it sunk down and she looked pregnant. Now she stands out there, more or less headless, bustless, and not pregnant. And the beach ball kicks around happily in the wind gusts.

Winter is coming, winter is coming, winter is coming. . . . It is like a drum beat in my head. I don't dread the winter. It's not the cold weather. It's not the snow. The older I get, winter is just a season, a short part of the whole year. I fear the inactivity. The boredom. Being house-bound. What will we do?