The first days of Fall

After many weeks of blistering heat even in my small mountain town, the past few days are hinting Winter is coming. Typically up here it’s 70° to 80° at worst. Places off the mountain swelter while we have our windows open, enjoying nice breezes.

The temps have suddenly been cooler, even during the day. It’s actually nice to be outside puttering around the yard. This may be residual from hurricane Kay. 

Fall chores are upon me. I need to clean the dryer vent, fire up the furnace and blow all the cobwebs and get that weird dusty smell out of it.

This morning I woke up to the temperature inside the house being 65°F instead of 75°F. Outside it was 54°F.

Some of the Maple trees are starting to change, other plants will be losing their leaves over the next few weeks.

There is one thing that makes this really nice. Since the windows are closed and all the neighbors have their windows  closed too, there is blessed silence. Their internal conflicts of their families are remaining internal after a long hot Summer of their squabbles being broadcast to the whole neighborhood. 

Sound carries up here. The things you hear are amusing and astounding. The most interesting arguments are the ones at 2 or 3 am. Wow! I don’t need to know some of the things I’ve heard about either party.

The squirrels are being lazy this morning, they’ve not yet been out scampering through the treetops chattering at each other.

The dog is happy for the cooler weather. I know the seasons are changing because the dog is not shedding. His fur is at its thinnest and the past few nights he’s been very cuddly. His Winter coat will come in over the next month or so. I’m curious to see if I can predict the severity of the Winter season by looking at his fur.

Yesterday I had the chain saw fired up. Some of the larger branches of Mountain Lilac needed to be cleared out. They’d died  because of the heat and drought. Probably in the next month, I’ll be using the pole saw to remove more dead branches exposed by the plants losing their leaves. 

Like most guys, I like tools. The danger with the chainsaw is that I go looking for stuff to cut down. I like the electric saw much better than gas powered ones. I think it’s the whir of the motor, instant power, and not breathing gas fumes.

There’s a neighbors tree that really could use some grooming. Maybe I’ll ask him if I can go at it. Not that I’m looking for additional chores, but this particular tree has a lot of old dead branches that overhang the road coming to the house. One of these winters, they’re going to fall and mess somebody’s car up. (This is a purely selfish move on my part, and I get to use my tools.)