Tomorrow she comes. Autumn, my friend. The childhood companion of solitude. Something about the air. It feels cooler. The hills in front of my house are changing rather quickly. Autumn ushers in a starkness, that is unrecognizable. For a short time the cattle on the top of the hill will somehow appear to be standing in the clouds. Without the leaves on the tree the view will be unsettling. I wish it could be summer forever. Soon the sound of hunting will overtake the prairie. I expect I will see more wildlife, clamoring into the lower parts of the Coteau. I will soon be reaching for sweaters in place of tank tops. I might get myself this sweater, something big and cozy to watch the weather change. https://amzn.to/4d9KdHy I have no plans for the fall. Just the usual pace at Coteau Valley Farm. In reality, I have already entered the cold of winter in my mind. I never really give fall a chance. Fall seems too to harsh to me. Just a long drawn out goodbye. All the plants and leaves on the trees which seemed to be my reality will die. I will never enjoy their beauty again, where does it go? The flowers that come again next spring will be new friends. I will need to learn to love them. But they are not the plants now. Goodbye to the flowers that I admired and loved. Somehow, Autumn has made herself the month of saying goodbye. Again and again she comes. Each year the goodbyes seem to compile and grow. More and more, until your alone in a bitter winter wind, then you feel it. I remember reading Laura Ingalls as a child. Laura knows how I feel about winter. If it has been a while, maybe you should read it again. https://amzn.to/4e9SHiZÂ Listen to her words in The Long Cold Winter. I too grow stern in winter. I feel like I set my face forcefully to it. It feels like a time of doing without. I am not good at saying goodbye and moving on. I am also not good at three months of snow or even longer. Time to get out the snow shovel, or maybe get a new one. Have a look. https://amzn.to/3ZxdnNz Around here we do not use these. A shovel will not work on the Coteau Valley. By the time you throw your shovel load out, the wind has filled it back in with new snow. It would take someone until ninety degrees to shovel themselves out with that! Even our little tractor has a time of it clearing the roads when it snows here. I just laugh looking at a snow blower again. Oh, resentful winter. I shake my head and wonder if something else will come in his place. Maybe I escape to Arizona for the winter. It would not be so bad. It's warm there, at least. The bugs and snakes would creep me out. I could manage. I could read this book and be on my way. https://amzn.to/4euagKp. I suspect a lot of people leave for the winter, as I see some hows get covered with snow and nobody around to snow plow.
Mochi and Miso hate the winter. They huddle up in the shop like they are literally terrorized by the maddening blizzards. Poor cats. I know how they feel. Mochi just freaks out. I think he would go mad if he were a human being. https://amzn.to/3XCycoa I am thinking of rewriting that from the perspective of Mochi. He spends so much of the winter huddled under a shelf or up high. His fine orange hair gets static electricity and loses it's shine. He goes insane. Why shouldn't he? I think he gets the cabin fever. I should let him inside with me. We could work through the madness together. https://amzn.to/3Xw5561 Hahaha! O my goodness. That even looks like Mochi. I am definately getting that to help us cope. If I was not allergic to him, I might. Just a heads up. I am about finished with all this rambling, jibberish. Let me know how you feel about sister autumn's visit. I am waiting for her chilly friend winter and his cold clutch of friendship. I will say goodbye now. I hope more people will comment. This is my 100th blog. Any comments? Please? Anyone?
The fall is a beautiful time of year, especially if you are a fan of pumpkin spice!