Happy Fall!!!
It's here already, the first day of fall or Autumnal Equinox . Many of you will celebrate the change of season; while others dread what the fall brings with it. In just a few short months fall will turn to the dreaded, winter. I for one love the fall season; although here is Socal the only change is light. The shadows are longer, and the days are shorter; but the temperatures still remain at the top of the thermometer. I long for the fresh bite in the air that lives now only in my memory. Having grown up and lived much of my adult life in Canada; fall means cooler temps, cleaning up the yard, getting the house ready for winter and enjoying the color of Mother Nature.
Fall was always my favorite season; a time when you could go for long walks without sweating. When the dogs displayed an added bounce in their step and the pesky bugs were ending. I love Fall. Here in Socal it means that cooler nights will be coming. They aren't here yet but I was able to turn the A/C off last night. We are expecting temperatures up in the 90s again this weekend, ugh! There will be cooler daytime temperatures coming but we have to wait for them for a while.
The ingrained sense of wrapping up is still with me and I cannot shake it. Chopping down the flowers that were once amazing blooms. Cutting the wilted plants that have been stung by the impending pre-winter frost. Storing bikes, wheel barrows, garden tools and summer toys away for hibernation. Summer was fleeting back then. Now it is almost like a never ending summer but I still go through the motions, I have to.
I remember my dogs following me around the yard. We spent hours upon hours outside, cleaning up. They loved it as much as I did. While I burned broken branches in the bonfire pit; they grabbed fallen sticks here and there. Preparation for winter was big but enjoyable. There were a few years that we even got our Christmas lights up before the frigid temperatures and snow were upon us.
Yesterday I started my yard clean up. Something I prepare for now, is rain. We are suppose to get a lot of it this winter and I sure hope that we do. We need it desperately. So I was up on the ladder cleaning gutters. What a messy, messy job but I love it. Elsa brought her ball to me and lay it by the bottom of the ladder. I smiled and told her that I couldn't reach it. Of course I'd climb down every once in a while to toss it for her.
After a couple of hours of gutter cleaning, I needed cleaning. Elsa and I will be spending a great deal of time in the yard for the next couple of weeks. The yard will be tended to; wrapped up for the winter. Even if the winter is not really coming here to us; in my head and heart it is still time to wrap up for hibernation.