How Does It Happen?

Good morning everyone out there providing you are reading this in the morning. Otherwise I can’t say good morning if you are not reading this in the morning, and I really hope that you are reading this otherwise…hmm, there goes my opening sentence. Sigh. Lost track of what I wasn’t saying before I had a chance to not say it, so, therefore, I won’t bother trying to remember what it was I was going to say, since it likely wasn’t important anyway. Sigh.

Anyway, this post is from the past, mainly, except a bit about the weather which really wasn’t much different. It’s fall. Or autumn, if you prefer. There is definitely a coolness in the air even though the days are, well, sometimes still sort of warm and sometimes sunny. Though more often than not it is cloudy, cool and rainy. It’s fall. There is definitely a noticeable coolness in the air. Things are suddenly different than summer. Of course there is the obvious. The changing colors of the leaves. Birds are heading south, going to warmer places for the winter. Other birds are coming in to replace them.

Years ago, while I was still feeding birds and other critters the blue jays would be busy now. And noisy. And looking for food. Always looking for food. But they can be good to have around. If any danger enters the area, such as a hawk, they let everyone know. Loud and clear. And everyone takes heed. Heading to the nearest place of safety. Which for Sylvester, one of my chipmunks, meant cuddling in as close to me as he could, hiding in close to my right arm and behind my left hand. Shaking a bit. But he knew he was safe. And yet, just nine days previous he wouldn’t even come close to me.

Now it’s like we have been friends all summer. Summer. Sigh. It is so short. And gone. It is fall. And rather on the cool side again today. It was only 54F today, that’s 12C. The hot days of summer are definitely gone. Muffin used like it much better. She was an odd type. She loved to lay in the sun, soaking up that heat. But she doesn’t like heat. Amazing. Back then there was another new chipmunk in the group. His name was Checker. Mainly because I was thinking of checkers at the time. The game of checkers. Anyway, for a couple of weeks Checker was around but wouldn’t come near me. Much like Sylvester.

But one Friday he finally came and took a peanut from me. Now, just the following Tuesday he was crawling all over me just like the rest of them. That certainly didn’t take long. Amazing what you can do with peanuts. Everyone loves peanuts. I went through a lot of peanuts. But what can I do? From small to large, everyone eats peanuts. How am I supposed to say no? Sigh. There was a couple of black bears around that summer. One was about 400 pounds. And yes, they will eat peanuts too! And most anything else. Which is why I really would prefer they didn’t come around.

Muffin agreed. She did not like bears. One was on my deck one night. Not where I live now, where I used to live. I live 6 stories high now, I doubt a bear could climb up here. Speaking of peanuts. One Rusty was on my lap getting some peanuts from me when one of the rock doves decided to let loose and poop on my arm with a great big wet one! It splattered. Naturally. Made me groan rather loudly and move my arm rather quickly. That, of course, scared poor Rusty. And he took off as quick as he could. And peed all over my leg. For such a little critter he sure had a big bladder.

That made me groan a bit more. I was sitting on the steps at the time. So I put my hand down to give myself a little push to get up. Another groan. My hand landed in more fresh bird poop. Sigh. How do things like this always happen to me? How? Things never happen to anyone else. Or at least they don’t admit it. Sigh. Like the other night (not here, at my previous place) heading off to the bathroom. In the dark. And I walk through a spider web.

Another night I went to drink some water, I always keep a glass of water handy, and there was a spider web over the top of the glass! That was not at all nice. It’s enough to make a person jump up and down, pull their hair (which is getting harder to do), bang their head against the wall, fall on the floor (what do you expect after banging your head on the wall?), and, and…AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s okay. I’m calm. I’m fine. Sigh.

Fortunately I have not seen any spiders in this apartment in the 3 years I have been living here. I did see one in the laundry room once, but that is on the main floor, far from my apartment. Anyway, fall can be nice. Those beautiful colors. Crisp mornings with frost on the ground. It’s what comes after it that takes all the fun from fall. The first winter forecast issued says we will have a long, cold, and snowy winter. In other words, normal. Sigh. Oh well. I hope you all enjoy your week, and God bless!

Steve. ©2026 Steve McLeod.