“Autumn is the hush before winter. “
Last night I went to bed early, my early around 10, and slept in this morning until 9. My back feels much better so a day of doing nothing and a good night’s sleep did the trick; of course, a day of doing nothing isn’t novel to me. I am a lover of sloth days and never need a reason to enjoy one.
Yesterday, in the late afternoon, I went outside to the deck. The air had the unmistakable smell of fall. It was earthy but not like in spring when the garden smells of newness. It was the smell of brown leaves on the ground slowly rotting away. Musky might be the better description. I didn’t need to see Gracie. I could hear the sounds of her paws as she ran on the crispy leaves under the trees and I knew exactly where she was. Leaves cover the back of the deck, the part under the trees, and I kicked a few over the side. I could have been eight or nine again and kicking the leaves piled beside the sidewalk’s gutters. Yesterday’s leaves separated and flew to the ground, two stories below the deck. I could see my neighbor’s house and my friends’ house at the end of the street though the bare trees. The privacy brought by leafy trees is gone now until late in spring. A few birds ignored me and stayed at the feeders, mostly gold finches. I saw a woodpecker at the suet feeder. He has to eat upside down and doesn’t seem to mind. The thistle feeders had three or four gold finches all at one time. They don’t like to share on the big feeder but they don’t seem to mind sharing thistle. I cleaned out the bird bath of its leaves and pine needles then went inside the house. Gracie stayed outside.
I haven’t anything to do. There’s clean laundry to bring up but one more day won’t hurt; wrinkled is wrinkled. I have amassed a mountain size pile of catalogues so I think I’ll go Christmas shopping. The day is cloudy and uninviting so inside is the perfect place to spend the day. I feel good today about me and the day.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsThis entry was posted on November 16, 2013 at 11:49 am and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: bare trees, birds, crispy leaves, early to bed, earthy, fall smells, gold finches, kicking leaves, leafy brranches, sloth day, suet feeder, thistle feeder
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November 16, 2013 at 1:13 pm
Nothing will cure what ails you like a good night’s sleep. Autumn in North Texas is right around the corner. I guess we could call this warm cloudy weekend an Indian summer since we had our first freeze on Wednesday morning. Our leaves should begin to start changing next week since Thanksgiving comes at the end of the month this year. Usually the leaves are turning golden around the holiday.
I was never a catalog shopper because I love to see what I am getting before I get make the purchase. However, with the internet and free return policies at many online stores my wife has become an ardent E-commerce shopper. I buy as little as I can of anything. Shopping just doesn’t reside on my Y chromosome 🙂 It’s a good thing that my company supplies me with uniforms. They pick out the colors and I don’t have to think about my attire weekday mornings.
This year we are planning to have our Thanksgiving meal at the local Chinese buffet. We love Chinese food and they are going to include Turkey and all the fixins for the holiday. We eat at the buffet at least once a week. Basically I don’t like Turkey, only the dark meat, and somehow Moo Goo Gai Pen with stuffing and sweet potatoes sounds like fun. An egg roll dipped into cranberry sauce with the hot mustard will be delicious.
November 16, 2013 at 1:45 pm
Bob,
That is so right about sleep. It even, for a while, keeps sadness at bay. Sleep is a panacea. Yup, that’s Indian summer, those warm days after a freeze. It would be strange to have leaves on trees at Thanksgiving. Sounds nice though, color for the holiday.
Some things, like clothes, I’d rather try on but I have been mostly lucky in getting the right sizes when I did shop on line. One of the good things is shipping the gifts directly to my family in Colorado. I pay a little extra to have them wrapped, far less than wrapping here then shipping through UPS, which would be the second shipment payment. I find things on-line I probably would never see in local stores. I love shopping in museum stores and other off-beat places.
I would have Chinese at Christmas more than at Thanksgiving, but in that they are offering turkey I might be persuaded. I love turkey all the way from the beginning to the turkey soup at the end. It is not a meat I have often and I am such a fan. You reminded me I haven’t had Chinese in a while. Now I want some!
November 16, 2013 at 2:11 pm
Although the Chinese buffet is good, it’s not authentic because they have to appeal to a wide American audience. However, the large Asian communities in big cites have spanned some wonderful authentic Chinese restaurants. In the DFW area we have a family owned chain called, First Chinese Barbecue. They have the barbecue ducks hanging in the front and the menu is as authentic as I had eaten in China. Excellent food at reasonable prices. Cash only please. In the Brampton suburb of Toronto I found another authentic Chinese restaurant called Kingsley Chinese Restaurant. They take credit cards and also have the hanging ducks. You know it’s authentic when you are the only non Asian patron and the wait staff speak very little English.
November 16, 2013 at 2:17 pm
Bob,
Little of what you find in Chinese restaurants around here is authentic. I always chuckled at one in the town where I grew up. Their waiters, always waiters, got picked up in Boston’s Chinatown every day. The waiters had a table way in the back where they’d eat lunch. They all had white rice and shoveled expertly with their chop sticks. The rest of us had all these fancy dishes.
In Boston’s Chinatown you can find small out of the way restaurants where little English is spoken; also, walking around is fun-the ducks are hanging in the windows and you hear Chinese everywhere you go.
November 16, 2013 at 2:53 pm
When I was a little kid in Brooklyn, in the early 1950s, my family went to a neighborhood Chinese restaurant for dinner. My cousins and I were cutting up and fooling around in the big booth. My uncle asked a passing waiter to tell the kids to behave thinking that coming from him it would have more impact. The waiter told my uncle, ‘So solly, not my table’. 🙂
That restaurant had the big table in the rear where the waiters ate the authentic stuff with chop sticks.
November 16, 2013 at 4:29 pm
The autumn isn’t hushing at all right now, the wind is roaring outside but it’s much warmer than usual and it’s quite nice out there. The moon is almost full and the Clouds rush over the sky so it would have been perfect to hear a wolf howling out there. It’s once again a great horror Movie night 🙂
I’ve struggeled with my new computer today, I wanted to get my anti-virus moved from the old one but the one already installed on this computer refused to be uninstalled, toook me over an hour to get things right again but now it’s done.
Have a great day!
Christer.
November 16, 2013 at 5:10 pm
Christer,
We got sun late in the day, and it also stayed warm all day. Gracie was barking and barking so I went out to bring her inside but she ran away from me into the yard and just stood there and looked at me. Obnoxious dog!
I hate when computers don’t cooperate. I will spend hours trying to do something and shout in glee when I figure it out!!
Have a great evening!~
November 16, 2013 at 7:46 pm
We’ve rain and wind but mild temps in the 50ºs today. The wind whistle this evening is amazing. I love it! It always make it sound as thought it’s below zero, the snow’s pilling up to the eaves, and the wolves are waiting for us to poke our heads out the door. Of course, I don’t love it when it actually gets that cold.
We finished cleaning the gutters and getting the last of the leaves (that we care about) yesterday. Today, I dismantled the rain barrel and put the antifreeze in the water pipe that runs the 20ft span along the house.
Pizza tonight – once the dough rises. The first one of ‘oven season’.
November 16, 2013 at 8:05 pm
John,
I can see it all, even the wolves. I too love the wind whistling through the trees and shaking the house. I watch out my window at the trees being blowing and bending.
I have no gutters, a deliberate decision.
My house and yard are also winter ready. The furniture is covered, the outside irrigation pipes have been emptied and the garden cleaned and cleared of dead flowers. I get a bit melancholic when I go out on the del where I spend so much summer time. It is desolate.
I love that: oven season.
Enjoy your pizza.
November 16, 2013 at 10:19 pm
Hi Kat,
I’m glad your back is better.
I was visiting with friends all this afternoon so I didn’t see much of the day. It was warm, though. Warm for November, that is. 🙂
Enjoy the rest of the evening.
November 16, 2013 at 10:22 pm
Hi Caryn,
I really did feel lighter today, almost ready for heel clicking in the air. I did a few things but nothing I needed to carry. Tomorrow will be laundry day which I suspect I can handle.
Nice to spend the day with friends!
It will be warm the next few days.
Have a great evening too.