DOWNSTATE, THE HURRICANE battered, flooded, wreaked havoc, and I feel bad for those folks. But it missed me, and I can wander outside in the bracing fall weather without worrying about getting struck by a flying palm frond or a floating car. In fact, the weather around me is perfect, cool mornings to walk in, pleasant partly sunny days to putter about in the yard, pruning, fertilizing, admiring. A late blooming gardenia, that forgot to blossom with its relatives, attracts my eye and so I tip toe up for an appreciative sniff. It is one of those wondrous autumnal days that, as P. D. James wrote, “occur more frequently in memory than in life.” I move some fallen magnolia leaves from the graves of three dear cats, buried in my back yard. A loud riding mower works back and forth a few houses away. Removing my yard gloves, I plop down on the patio to polish off the cup of coffee awaiting me. There’s still one more cup in the coffee pot, inside, but I’m too enthralled by the morning to return just yet to the kitchen. A flash of red disappears into an azalea bush nearby. It is a cardinal, biding his time until I’m gone so that he can visit the feeder off to the right of where I sit. He’s enjoying the morning too, and he is hungry for breakfast. He peeps at me a couple of times. Okay, okay, I get the hint. I take my empty mug back inside and, as I’m filling it up, I glance out the window. He’s at the feeder, chowing down, and his mate joins him there. Our snowless version of winter is around the corner.
I'm sorry, Henry, but I don't share the same joy of autumn, and I really dread winter with vengeance. So cold, damp, and wet, not to mention the dark nights and mornings. Give me spring and summer any day. I think we should be able to hibernate like the bears. XX
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O'Henry....
I'm so glad that you are safe from the storm... Is it truly fall now? Here we are still shielding from the wrath of the sunshine in the 100-degree weather, although it will only be 98 today.
I thought it would be great to go camping last week, go towards the largest lake, fish for a bit as our fall was expected. Instead, I found myself in 109 temps, no fish to be found, but did have a visit from a massive hairy spider (tarantula) and an overabundance of rattlesnakes. After only 4 days of that, I returned home with a cough and yes, Covid for my third time. And I'm vaccinated to the hilt.
......but welcome Fall to my world!
Stay safe my friend...Ritz
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Hi Henry, glad to hear you are safe and sound. I got up to 47 degrees, but it's supposed to be sunny all day. Like you, I will be buttoning up the yard, putting chairs away, raking some leaves, trimming bushes, and filling several bird feeders.
Autumn in New York is a glorious season, especially upstate where the trees take on riotous red and orange colors. I used to go upstate frequently, a friend had luckily got admission in the premier girls' college in the US in Poughkeepsie when they decided to turn co-ed. Unfortunately, he got expelled for setting fire to the toilet paper in the toilets. Luckily, he only got expelled and not deported out of the US. He has changed and leads a calmer life now.
I can't imagine being at Vassar, even coed, and being a TP arsonist, as full as the school is with more compelling attractions.
There was a movie called Autumn in New York, a misnomer it turned out to be a two-hanky melodrama, then of course there is a song by the same name. Is it true, Henry, that Ian brought in crocodiles and sharks into Florida and they are now swimming around in the streets there? That is a scary situation, but it depends on how deep the water is in certain areas.
I saw a video of a shark swimming in a flooded street in a residential neighborhood in SW Florida during the storm. We don't have crocs, but we have gators aplenty. They don't require a storm to bring them into dangerous contact with humans. They often come up out of swampy areas or lakes and wander around golf courses or suburban housing complexes, often going into private home pools for a swim. The State of Florida has professional gator catchers under contract all over the state to come in and capture these dangerous beasts. Typically, they transfer them back into wild environment, unless the gator has attacked someone, in which case they're usually killed. The meat is reputed to taste like chicken...
Glad you dodged that bullet, Henry, and I hope the rest of your family did too. It sounds like an idyllic morning in your backyard. We are being treated to an extended summer this year, perhaps to make up for the crappy spring we had. I always look forward to autumn and welcome the change of seasons. As much as I love hot sunny days, I don't think I'd like that all year round. If we have a really miserable winter, it just makes the coming of spring that much sweeter.
Terry