Time to Welcome October

For quite a few years now, we've planted half a dozen chrysanthemums along the northern edge of the driveway. This year, for the first time, as much as I can recall, someone's been eating the flowers, mostly the bright yellow ones. A quick internet search suggests that deer, rabbits, and / or squirrels are the most likely culprits. I don't see any hoof prints, so I'm guessing one or both of the latter two but have no more evidence to consider, although a number of flowers continue to lie on the ground around many of the plants.

wedding decoration pumpkins

Photo by J. Harrington

Archery season for deer is now open so there's a number of vehicles wandering the neighborhood and parking in the road ditches. Some of them may be hunting squirrels or rabbits instead of whitetails. That would explain the gun shots I've been hearing while walking Harry the beagle, who is sometimes gun (shot) shy.

Leaf color continues to develop and has been joined by a noticeable increase in leaf drop this past week. Time to start mulch-mowing and blowing so there's not a thick cover when snowfall starts. I'm working on convincing myself that I'm caring for the earth and not just wasting my time. Wish me luck. At least with the drought, grass mowing hasn't been needed nearly as often as during a "normal" summer.

Eleven years ago we were in the midst of preparations for a back yard wedding of the Daughter Person to our soon-to-be Son-In-Law. Leaf colors that year were more fully developed than now. Meanwhile, this year it's time to go pumpkin shopping and check out the snow blower for the season that comes after autumn.

Finally, please be sure to VOTE EARLY, VOTE BLUE [but don't vote often]. Our democracy (and our sanity) depends on you, and me, and each of US!

Vote

by Nikki Giovanni

It’s not a hug
Nor mistletoe at Christmas

It’s not a colored egg
At Easter
Nor a bunny hopping
Across the meadow

It’s a Vote

Saying you are
A citizen

Though it sometimes
Is chocolate
Or sometimes vanilla
It can be a female
Or a male
It is right
Or left
I can agree
Or disagree but
And this is an important but
I am a citizen

I should be able
To vote from prison
I should be able
To vote from the battlefield
I should be able
To vote when I get a driver’s license
I should be able
To vote when I can purchase a gun
I must be able
To vote
If I’m in the hospital
If I’m in the old folks’ home
If I’m needing a ride
To the Polling Place

I am a citizen

I must be able to vote

Folks were lynched
Folks were shot
Folks’ communities were gerrymandered
Folks who believed
In the Constitution were lied to
Burned out
Bought and sold
Because they agreed
All Men Were Created Equal

Folks vote to make us free

It’s not cookies
Nor cake
But it is the icing
That is so sweet

Good for the Folks
Good for Us

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Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.

Au revoir Summer

Local leaf color is coming on. The hummingbirds seem to have disappeared around the middle of last week. Waterfowl are taking training flights, building muscles for the trip South. Daytime temperatures have dropped to the low 70's and upper 60's. Autumn equinox occurs this Tuesday at 7:05 pm CDT. Rumor has it that peak Autumn [Out 'em] this year will occur on November 3, shortly after Samhain. We hope that day or two separation will give any evil spirits time to return to their lairs and not haunt voters.

Ruby Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum rubicundulum)

Photo by J. Harrington

We've seen few dragonflies and no tree frogs so far this September. I suspect that has a lot to do with are area continuing to be in a severe drought location. This year the county is well below its 30 year average precipitation. I continue to wonder if the anticipated super El Nino will break the drought.

For reasons I don't even want to try to understand, Blogger's no longer correctly, automatically, updating the most recent posting for the blog listing on the right-hand side of this page. Another success from AI? I'm debating if this annoyance is sufficient reason to move the blog to another platform, stop blogging, or, instead, just ignore the flaw. Wouldn't it be nice if tech giants made sure everything worked before imposing updated versions on users. I'm tired of feeling used by technology. Local gas stations are now trying to induce users to provide their phone numbers in return for a discounted per gallon price. Blue votes on November 3 probably offer a better ROI with possibly fewer scams and less spam.

Song for Autumn

by Mary Oliver

Don’t you imagine the leaves dream now
how comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of the air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees, especially those with
mossy hollows, are beginning to look for

the fires that will come—six, a dozen—to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
stiffens and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its long blue shadows. The wind wags
its many tails. And in the evening
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.

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Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.