It has been...

a long week, and I'm just goofing around today.  It is really one of those dark and dreary fall days outside and I am in my bunker, reluctant to go out even to pick up the mail.  Everyone feels it, even the mice--I have caught six in my trap line since Thursday morning.  Who wants to be outside?  It is wet and cold and gross out there.  I think thinking of putting a little reception desk in my living room to welcome them.  Before I kill them, of course.  The hides are stacking up.  I am hoping to steal a fur stole from all of them, or perhaps make a tiny tiny throw rug.  Sigh.  The battle begins and continues. Everyone has mentioned that their interior mouse population has skyrocketed this year.  They are also an issue at work--they ate a good chunk of chocolate from my office sweet (haha).  While it is noticeable when 15 large chocolate truffles disappear, it is equally noticeable when you see sparkly (from the wrappers) mouse poop all over your desk along the litter of all the diabetic test kits and the mouse-sized insulin needles  left from the now diabetic mice.   It is not uncommon to hear screams of disgust in the admin building as one or more furry friend scampers around the Advising Center or president's office.

I have take a few photos but not that many--I will play catch up over the next few days and add more.

14 minutes ago...

I awoke to a white robe hiding or muting the colors of all of outside--nearly two inches of snow fell overnight.  It is like a guest came much too early to the party--flowers were still fighting to bloom, and most leaves were still hanging on and still in their autumn finery.  And the guest is boring and promises to stay for most of the next six or seven months!

None-the-less, I dragged my (warm) butt out of bed and took a stroll around my extensive estate and took a few photos.  I blame bad light and an active reluctance to take snow pictures this early in the fall for these photos.  I wanted to mow one more time and of course there is the raking.  Do I get to skip those tasks?  Of course now I have to shovel...

The last of them...

Fall is here with its colors. temperatures, and its "feel."  Of course poets and others have spilled millions of words trying to describe what that "feel of fall" actually is.  I recognize all the smells, from wet leaves to the breezes that bring the tang of wood smoke to the smell of mice in your house.  More about that soon.    This is a weekend to dream of--it is in the 70s, and the colors, while not dominant, now appear in large enough blocks to smack your visual cortex often, and you have to notice the smears of reds, oranges, and yellows.  I think that you really get to use the Oxford comma this time of the year as you write lists of the reds, yellows, and other descriptive words for all the colors.

These are probably the last of the flowers from my yard, the yard that has provided many of them these past five months.  I was struck how the background colors are sometimes more striking than the fading colors of the flowers.  Leaves don't cover my "estate" but they are kind of hard to keep out of the frame.  Way back when, a friend noted that one flower was pretty and colorful  but it also left a interesting and pretty seed "pod."  One photo confirms that prediction.  I love the tiny flowers--why is that?  The smallest are but 1/8th to 1/4 inch across.

Perhaps the next photos could feature snow--that is more probable than more flower photos.  But until then, I will enjoy the colors, the smells, and the benefits of a fantastic fall day.