First sign of frost…Fall is here
How does it all creep up so fast, the golden leaves, the reds, oranges and yellows, interspersed with the green still hanging on. We had our first sign of frost this morning as I went down to watch the mists drifting across the the flat surface of the water, as if propelled by themselves, as there wasn’t a hint of wind. How do they do that? Maybe they are the mist fairies, Tuatha Dé Danann are an elvish supernatural race from Irish mythology. Féth fíada, this word is used to describe a kind of mist that ensures that the Tuatha Dé Danann are invisible to the human race. I knew it!
It has become very quiet, no sound of hummingbird wings, they went South nearly a month ago. I miss the constant bickering of the Orioles as well. The chitter of chickadees and the occasional raucous squawk of a bluejay surrounds the feeder. The White Breasted Nuthatches are fighting among themselves for their social position in their world. The forest seems so empty, but it’s not. With the rains have come the miracles that spring from the ground, mushrooms! Everywhere you step there is another yellow, or red cap, sometimes gold, they have their fall colours on as well.
It truly has only been Fall for, let’s see, eleven days now. September 22 at 9:24 p.m was Fall equinox. Seems longer! I haven’t been poking around much, too busy writing, even ignoring my blog, sigh, it’s time to get back outside exploring, the bugs are gone, no deer flies to terrorize me and I’m pretty much done sailing ’round the world, proofreading still to come, then what, well, one step at a time!
Those little things in life are often the most interesting, not saying a spectacular sunrise isn’t fabulous as well but we so often miss what is not obvious. Our Dark Fishing spider moved out of the cucumber plant, just in time, frost got it last night. She’s been there all Summer, raising her brood, I checked on her from time to time, raising the leaf she was behind. In the morning her babies would all be in a ball, if disturbed, they’d scatter, a defense mechanism no doubt. Fascinating our world.
We’ve had a few crazy storms, one had rain and lake water sailing cross the horizon like a hurricane, memories from old for me but it only lasted a few moments. We sat and watched, feeling safe and warm, behind our window, marveling at the power of nature. We are lucky, I’m sure some aren’t feeling too good about the powers of nature recently. We need to respect it, maybe we have forgotten just how powerful it is.
Our view changes so quickly, from clouds to sun, reflections to haze in a never ending slide show. Absolutely amazing. I look out every morning at dawn, I have but to lift my head, is it spectacular enough to get up for? This particular morning even Mike nudged me and said, yup, I think you’ll want to get up for this one!
Now which month in the Calendar shall it be, maybe the cover as well! Little Red Canoe 2023! I have to admit to feeling a bit restless this Fall. Two years of staying put perhaps is itching at my gypsy soul. To wander, or not to wander, this is the question. I was cold last night, I climbed into the tub to soak. I felt so fortunate, hot water, hot fresh water, I’m still grateful after decades for this marvel. Maybe it’s been reliving my experiences as a child and young adult that has me feeling so grateful for the life I lead and maybe it poked the wanderlust flowing through my veins, I’m thinking, it probably never left!
Summer to Fall. I’m waiting for that windless day to paddle the lake, catch the last of the dragonflies, there are a few Autumn Meadowhawks still around, they aren’t lining the trees but closer to the ground. An occasional butterfly passes by, it seemed to a quiet Summer for them, maybe I need to plant more flowers! Or the Orioles ate them all! Ha! I missed our gray tree frog family in the cushion bin this year. I saw a few very small babies on the windows catching bugs, the cats watch them intensely, and as I sat on the steps looking out at the lake I noticed this beauty on the rock, perfectly camouflaged!
Those small things…which are not our cats by the way. Mike bought a scale, ugh, I refuse to climb on it, vicious hideous lying thing, but we did weigh the large orange boys, Groot weighed in at 19.7 lbs, before breakfast, Rocket was close to 21…ye gads, we must stop feeding these creatures! Just kidding. Rocket is three now, there is no fat there, he is a BLOB…big long orange boy, Groot, well, we may have to start to watch his waistline, he’s getting a wee bit pear shaped, evident in the way he looks like a raccoon when he runs, Gamora seems tiny at 10.6 lbs.
They do run around outside, supervised, mostly chased by Mike, the cat eating human they say when he runs at them. Groot has taken to running back at him, I will attack hooman! He’s brave, Rocket, well, brave isn’t in his vocabulary, big is, nose biting is, just not brave. Gamora, she’ll take on the world without giving it a 2nd thought most of the time, unless she smells bear…inside, now! Smart girl. We wonder how they’ll take to traveling again, maybe a few trial runs around the block first! They were raised doing it, so it will remain to be seen.
Here is my bird round up, a goodbye to some, and hello to others. The woodpeckers are back from the forest, both Hairy and Downy. The Pileated I’ve seen but not close, and sadly no sign of the Red Bellied either, maybe another year a pair will find these woods.
The American Goldfinches are changing colours, they’ve cleaned out all my sunflowers, I actually didn’t plant any, they sprouted from uneaten seed, buried by mice and chipmunks no doubt, or maybe it fell from last years plants. Next year I’ll plant some, especially for them.
So that is it for today, I have some rambunctious cats that need to run around for a bit outside. Rocket has been sprayed about a hundred times so far this morning. Mike is having a wheel sensor repaired on the truck, hopefully he’ll be back soon before more fur flies. These guys, like thoroughbreds, those of you that have owned them know exactly what I mean…DO NOT DEVIATE from my set schedule…ever!
Stay warm and we’ll keep you apprised of the future travels of the Astrogypsies! Abrazos amigos, yeah, I really do think I need a taco al pastor soon!
