It is fall.  The colors are simply beautiful.  Well, they were.  Then came the frost.  That started the process of falling leaves.  Then there is today.  A very nice sunny and fairly warm day.  And windy.  Very windy.  Which means, of course, that the remaining leaves are very quickly leaving the trees.  Actually, not many left on the trees now.  Amazing some of those trees don’t leave with the leaves, though I think a neighbor down the street lost a tree and has been busy sawing most of the afternoon.  Surprising how the little birds out here can manage to fly around in that wind, like the chickadees, not exactly strong fliers, but it doesn’t seem to bother them at all.  Probably use up more energy though.  At least the wind got rid of all the feathers on my deck.  They are from the doves.  There are over 40 of them and they have discovered that I put food out for the juncos, and they like the same food, except they eat a LOT more of it, and fast.  Very fast.  Muffin really enjoys watching those doves, her eyes get so big.  She is thinking, ‘food for a week from just one bird!’  Speaking of food.  Tubby, the new squirrel actually chased Squirk, my squirrel, from his territory.  I didn’t think it would be possible.  Squirk was always chasing him, and fighting him, but, he lost.  And now he is gone.  I miss Squirk.  Though he has come back twice when the Tubby wasn’t around.  But now he doesn’t even try.  Sigh.  I miss Squirk.  Had him here since he was just a baby, not even as big as a chipmunk.  And he was so friendly.  Sigh.  I miss my deer too.  And my gulls.  Sigh.  This area of town just isn’t the same.  Now I wouldn’t mind if the bears would stop coming around.  That would be fine.  Always have to look around so carefully before going outside, no matter what time of day it is.  Sigh.  Maybe I’m just getting old.  Okay, I am.  But that’s not what I mean.  Some people can be so sarcastic.  Oh well.  Oh, that’s right, good morning everyone on this very nice, though very windy, evening.  The sun has just set, nice orange glow on the horizon, the sky is still blue though turning that usual early evening gray.  The birds have gone to bed, except for a few stragglers such as the chickadees and a couple juncos trying to find some seeds the doves missed.  It is hard to hear when the wind is so strong, especially along the railway tracks.  And it really started to pick up while dad and I were trying to finish our lunch after dad finally settled down from his dancing with the ants, though he complained a bit about a headache from being hit on the head with his thermos of COFFEE.  You shouldn’t have bent over after asking me to toss the thermos, I said.  Dad just looked at me.  Do you think you could hand me a piece of cake without tossing it or dropping it?, dad asked.  Sure, I said, as I walked over and handed it to him.  Where is my COFFEE?, asked dad.  I put it over here where it would be safe, I said.  You could have left it closer to me, said dad.  What?  I said closer to me, said dad.  Hard to hear with this wind, I said.  What?  The strong wind makes it hard to hear, I yelled.  That’s what I said, it should be over here, dad yelled back.  That’s why I put it here, I said.  I want it closer to me, dad yelled.  Now, I am positive dad said he wanted me to throw it to him.  Which I thought kind of odd after the last time.  But I did anyway.  Dad stood up just at that moment.  THUMP!  Right in his stomach.  Dad sat down very quickly again.  He forgot he was sitting on that rock I guess.  And he sat down too far back, the rock wasn’t that big.  So he fell backward.  There was rose bushes behind that rock.  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Dad yelled.  Considering his legs were in the air, it is amazing how fast he was able to get up again.  You dropped your cake, I said, trying hard not to laugh.  Plus, when he was trying to get up, he squished it with his hand.  Too bad there is no water around to wash your hand, I said.  He wiped it on my jacket.  Hey, my jacket, I said.  Ha, ha, said dad.  That wasn’t funny.  A train roared past.  We may as well start looking for insulators, yelled dad.  Where, I don’t see any, said I.  Not here, we need to get going, said dad.  We just got here, we should be looking for insulators, I said, after all we want to find something before we head home.  We’re not going home until we find some insulators, said dad, get walking.  You’re right, this wind does make it hard to talk, said I.  That’s true, it doesn’t look like it will be hard walking through there, dad agreed.  Which way should we go?, I asked.  That’s fine, we can go that way if you want, said dad.  And off he went.  I guess he wants to go that way I thought to myself, so off I went.  It can be hard to carry on a conversation with that strong wind and a roaring train.  But dad and I had no problem.  Guess we were used to that sort of thing.  It’s getting darker.  Now comes the arguing.  I want to close the door.  Muffin is still looking out the door.  It’s getting dark, I said.  The bear might be around.  It’s still early, says Muffin.  She figures this is the best time to see something.  That’s true.  But not something I want to see.  Which is why the door is usually closed by this time.  Muffin doesn’t understand these things.  She thinks it’s me that doesn’t understand.  Which is why I bought more bandages.  It’s that time of year again.  Sigh. I hope you can all enjoy the nice weather this week, unless it is not nice where you live.  In that case I will enjoy it for you!  Wheehee!  God bless!

Steve. And Muffin.

Good morning and happy Thanksgiving to everyone on this rather cool, cloudy and windy afternoon!  It certainly does feel like fall today.  Really, it does.  But the brilliant colors of yellow, gold, orange, red and shades in between, still shine brightly and they are very much at their peak right now even though some trees still retain their summer green.  But all those colors just radiate their beauty among the greens of the pine, spruce, balsam and cedar.  A fabulous painting, more breath-taking than the largest display of fireworks, given to us by God to enjoy.  With all the hills in this area it is possible to see this display of color for miles around.  Speaking of displays.  I like to feed some of the smaller critters around here.  And peanuts work just fine for all of them.  I just open my door to feed the squirrel and 5 chipmunks and doing it this way ensures they actually get the peanuts and not the blue jays and crows.  Although I do feed the birds as well.  Anyway, I put my hand out one day with a nice peanut for RB and instead of grabbing the peanut, which I accidently dropped, he latched onto my finger.  Solidly.  And would not let go.  Muffin was right beside me while this was happening and I could just imagine what was going on in her little mind.  Muffin is thinking, “ you have him hooked good, now just swing him inside and I will do the rest!” Right.  Like that is going to happen.  I tried to gently shake him off.  No good.  What to do?  Then he must have spotted the real peanut and he let go, grabbed the peanut and he was off.  I looked at Muffin.  Her eyes were half closed and she was thinking, “if you were a cat you would starve.”  And she walks away.  Hmm, sometimes I wonder if I spend too much time with animals.  Sigh.  Speaking of time.  Another week was missed.  I know.  It was technical difficulties again.  Namely me.  It was just one of those weeks.  Computer didn’t want to work properly.  Printer ran out of ink, right while I was printing something important.  Naturally.  And I didn’t have an extra cartridge.  Naturally.  I have been trying to make myself a pie for my birthday.  I know, it’s not my birthday, that’s in June.  I just haven’t been able to get it done yet.  Finally did.  Dropped it on the floor.  Splat!  Pie everywhere.  Except where it is supposed to be.  In my mouth.  Sigh.  Muffin came running to see if it was something good to eat.  Naturally.  And it was.  She enjoys that same kind of pie.  Sigh.  Since I am on this terrible gluten free diet pies are no longer easy to make.  Gluten free flour is just not the same as regular flour.  So I bought a pre-made pie shell.  That thing cost $8, only to end up in pieces on the floor.  Sigh.  But I’m not giving up.  Even if it takes me until next June.  Sigh.  Speaking of bears.  I am.  There are at least 2 that come around regularly, at all hours of the night, or day.   So I have to look carefully around before venturing outdoors.  One is small, less than 200 lbs, the other is about 500 lbs.  They both come up on my deck whenever they decide to walk through the yard.  They probably found some leftover food on the bird feeder once or twice so now they check it regularly.  I make sure there is no food left on it overnight now, but since these bears come around during the day also, that makes it a little tougher.  Sigh.  Hopefully I can get a nice picture of one at some point, but from a safe location.  If that’s possible.  Speaking of hospitals.  Ever have to go to the emergency room?  They have an odd way of determining what constitutes an emergency.  I assume that as long as you can crawl in on your hands and knees, then it can’t be too serious.  Which means a long wait.  Me; how long before I can see the doctor?  Receptionist; it will only be a minute.  The waiting room is empty, so I  assume she is right.  I sit down.  An hour later.  Me; is the doctor very busy?  There is a young boy that has a cold, but the doctor will be with you in a minute.  I’m not sure about you, but I always thought a minute was 60 seconds.  In the emergency room it is one hour.  Amazing. So this means I have another hour to wait.  For a cold.  Already my back is screaming with pain.  Has been since I left home.  Sigh.  My own doctor shows up, what are you doing here?, she asks.  Just wanted to rest my feet.  I explain.  Be with you in a minute, she says.  Great.  Three hours now.  Sigh.  But it was actually only 5 minutes.  At least it is getting closer to real time.  Calling a taxi.  We’ll be there in just a minute, she says.  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Sigh.  Speaking of stairs.  I don’t really like stairs.  I very much dislike stairs.  Because at some point I am going to fall down those stairs.  Which has happened three times since moving to this apartment.  Not nice.  It hurts.  Especially with my back.  So now I am moving around even slower than normal.  Sigh.  It’s fall.  And the colors are simply beautiful.  Hard to truly describe it properly.  So get out and enjoy the colors, they don’t last long.  Too often we get so busy that we miss this simple beauty.  Enjoy your week, happy Thanksgiving once again and God bless!

Steve. And Muffin.