Thursday, October 20, 2022

Cooler Mornings, Falling Leaves

 Our mornings here have turned to the coolish-side:  Mid-40's over the last 2-3 days, with daytime temperatures in the 80's or even the 70's.  It is the pleasant time of year in New Home, the time that makes one reflect that this is not a terrible place to be, if one has to be somewhere else.

Mind you, this season never seems to last long here.  The standing joke is the four to six weeks of the year between Frozen and The Face Of The Sun are delightful - but they are short.  Short enough to lure one into a sense of "Wow, this is not so bad" but not long enough to let one get accustomed to the change.

It feels more Autumnal than it has in years past as well.  I think the upcoming funeral of my father has something to do with it, a sort of "leaves falling" moment that has a finality that Autumn does not always have.  That is combined with a feeling, perhaps, that the world is not as right as should be and perhaps will not be for years to come.

This is the time of year (as long time readers know) that I start to take stock of next year's goals or at least things I want to aspire to (yes, I have already started the process) as well as begin the list of things I want to do in the Frozen season (always easier to do some things outside in the cold):  the trim really could use an updated paint job (but I do not have the ladder to complete the job), the yard is largely dead and needs to be rethought (although with the coming rains, I am anxious to see how "dead" things really are), and the garage is long past due "The Great Purging".  

And, of course, there is the reality that decisions have to start being made soon about moving - or staying.  

I feel a weight pressing down on me, a weight of things and life, a series of scarcely seen but noticeable pressures and bars around my life.  The immediate reaction - the reaction of any animal - would be to push back reactively on these things that feel like they are trapping me in.  But that is not the right reaction either - shedding things simply for the sake of freedom means you end up shedding the useful and the useless.  

And perhaps this shedding sense or need is what reminds me of Autumn at the moment.  Even here, our non-native trees are starting the shrivel up their leaves with the cooling nights, ready to cast them to the ground ahead of the cold that has not fully manifested but they know will be here.

Like a tree, perhaps, I feel the same need to shed in view of a Coming Winter

8 comments:

  1. You southerners crack me up. Painting in the "Frozen Season" hah!.

    We've had a really lovely fall thus far. Last year our fall stretched on nearly three months and this year is looking similar. It makes it hard to do somethings because I'm busy making hay before our "Frozen Season" turns the paint brushes left in paint cans to actual popsicles.

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    1. Ed, it is a marvel to me as well. We have had Christmas Day be in the 70's. Who heard of such a thing.

      Once or twice here the Springs have extended for a month or more - like yours, really lovely. Almost makes it hard to work, as one is just enjoying the cooler weather.

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  2. Our two whole days of cold are nice. Back to mid 80s this weekend.
    May God grant you your answers, TB.

    You all be safe and God bless.

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    1. Linda, I like the temperate weather - although I could really be happier with a little more rain.

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  3. Yup, I know what you mean. We usually have a longer run up to 100 degree days. But not this year. April to October. It was too hot to do much for the entire summer. Now that cool is here, I'm moving around outside and getting a little done. I'm not waiting like I did earlier. Making hay while the sun shines.

    Prioritizing and sifting out the chaff is a good thing to do. Something I'm not practiced at. I bull dog things, and grip tight until it's done. At times that has bitten me back, working things that should have been put aside and left alone. The resources used are wasted.

    I will pray the home going ceremony for your dad will be a blessing and comfort to all involved.

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    1. STxAR - Making hay while the sun shines - me too. The Spring to Summer transition got away from me last year. Cannot afford that to happen.

      I, like you, need to get better at separating wheat from chaff as well. The reality is that I seem to think I have all the time in the world, and I simply do not.

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  4. I love winter, because in winter there is the promise of spring.

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    1. Agreed John.

      Also, I like Winter because, being cold and rainy, it gives me an "excuse" to stay inside and do things like read and write.

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