Cold weather seasonal adjustments

As of mid-day, I have a new pair of (faux) fleece-lined deerskin chopper mittens. Soon we'll have a brand new snow blower parked in the garage. The old one will be kept as a backup and shared with the Son-In-Law and Daughter Person. If we get no, or very little, snow this Winter, you can thank, or blame, me. Ever since I've moved to Minnesota, I've claimed that, if buying a new snow blower every year kept us from being buried in the white stuff, it would be a small price to pay. As for the cold, the Jeep I bought several years ago has the first heated steering wheel I've ever owned. It makes my fingers very happy come December, January and February. The snow blower we're considering also has heated hand grips. Winter in Minnesota might actually become tolerable.

trees in the background have few leaves left

Photo by J. Harrington

Many of Autumn's leaves and needles have left the aspens, maples and tamaracks. Lots of pines also have dropped the needles that are this year's discards. We know this because many of those leaves and needles, except the tamaracks', are all over our drive. We would very much appreciate a nice, sunny day with a gusty West wind some time in the next week or so. Then, what's covering our drive would end up in the ditch across the road. It that doesn't happen, we'll probably have to resort to raking and hauling leaves and needles to our compost heap.

golden needles will soon fall from the pine trees

Photo by J. Harrington

To be on the extra safe side, in light of the cold overnight temperature forecast, we disconnected the two hoses. Falling temperatures probably help explain why mice have been sneaking into the garage and getting caught in traps in near record numbers. A contributing factor is possibly that, over the Summer, we eliminated all the leaf cover on the ground around the outside of the garage. With fewer places to nest outside, the mice are now seeking cover inside. If they didn't have the habit of chewing through wiring harnesses or nesting in engine compartments, we'd be more tolerant of their invasive behavior.

Beyond the Red River

By Thomas McGrath

The birds have flown their summer skies to the south,

And the flower-money is drying in the banks of bent grass

Which the bumble bee has abandoned. We wait for a winter lion,

Body of ice-crystals and sombrero of dead leaves.

A month ago, from the salt engines of the sea,

A machinery of early storms rolled toward the holiday houses

Where summer still dozed in the pool-side chairs, sipping

An aging whiskey of distances and departures.

Now the long freight of autumn goes smoking out of the land.

My possibles are all packed up, but still I do not leave.

I am happy enough here, where Dakota drifts wild in the universe,

Where the prairie is starting to shake in the surf of the winter dark.

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