Autumn Came On Early

I’m not sure where summer went in those last few weeks that often turn really hot, but autumn came on early, like the clappers. There we were enjoying our summery days and now we make fires inside every morning so we can sit comfortably and have a cup of something hot without excessive teeth chattering. We even add the benefits of our fan heater to warm the air around our chairs until the fire starts cranking.
One day I noticed that the sun was getting lower and the light was different, subtly, but definitely different. The next day everything changed drastically. Our temperatures dropped by 10 degrees overnight and speaking of night, those temps dropped even more to close to freezing.
So, we’re back to fighting over the covers when we were fighting to get out of the covers. That was the worst summer I can recall here but then the world ain’t in the best place anyway. One could cut the tension with a breath. And then there’s my animals who’ve decided to move over from their usual hanging out places around here to some really different ones, further away during the day. Something is definitely going on. They can feel it. I can feel it. But I just can’t put a name to it.
So, while I try to figure that out, enjoy the few scenic shots of the already magnificent leaves that have gone from summer shades to intense reds and oranges and golds overnight. Sweeping the pathways has again become my daily pastime, though my work is ruined with each gust of breeze that comes through the garden from mid-morning to late afternoon and that frequently lasts all night. So, I wonder why I bother. But in the calmness of the early morning, it makes me feel good to make the brick paths neat when I now push the leaves further down onto the grass or driveway gravel, even though it doesn’t last very long. But instead of letting it accumulate for a few days on the bricks and concrete and then doing a thorough clean up, I fool myself into thinking it's easier if I do a little every day, pretending it might last a day or more. That sort of proves that you can take a city girl out of the city but you can’t put a brain into her head in the country. Oh well. There are worse crimes (my answer to all of my excessive failings). But really, I just like doing everything my own way. Don’t we all?

I am the keeper of the autumn leaves now. The guardian, like my sister Penny, of all those gorgeous contrasting and colorful fallen leaves. Neither of us could ever bear to toss them out. We’d rather let them be all together underfoot in piles of magnificence or just loosely scattered by the breezes. She is missing the advent of spring in her garden she spent so much time in and I am missing her so as I admire these pointy leaves of all shapes and sizes as I trudge through this unbearable pain.