A Fine Autumn Day

Today, was one of those autumn days that is just about perfect.  A blue sky in bright contrast to the yellow box elder and cottonwood leaves still on the trees that line the river.  The river is clear, and slowly flows by as I rake up fallen leaves.  Mollie lies nearby, chewing on a stick.  The sun just warm enough to work without a jacket

Later on a mid-day walk, I realize that this might be one of the last fine days of autumn.  Snowstorms have already hit the East coast, and other are forecast for our area in the coming week.

A Little More Preparation

Looking ahead to the holiday season....

Preparing

Yesterday, we harvested bushels of colorful autumn leaves.  We added them to our composite pile.

Today, we headed to the cabin to winterize it.  While Curtis drained the water out of the pipes and appliances, I mowed the lawn.  Our mower chopped the Maple and Cottonwood leaves in to small flakes of autumn confetti - mulch.

Tuesday a hard freeze is forecast.

My bookshelf is stocked with a number of books.  Cold weather is the perfect time to snuggle up with Mollie and read a good book.

A handful of pine nuts

A handful of pine nuts, their scent and taste, brings back memories of my grandfather.  He would take my cousins and I to Yost, Utah to harvest pine nuts.  We would place tarps under the trees, then knock down the pine cones.  I was young, but I seem to remember that the cones had to be warm to open up wide enough for then pine nuts to be harvested.  I remember the pine sap being sticky and hard to get off your hands and extremely difficult to get out of clothes.

Now, I harvest pine nuts by purchasing them from the grocery store.  I found some today at the Valley Market.

A week away from the computer

I have been away from my computer, but still carried my journal.  Here a couple of Haiku poems that I noted in my journal, and that I would like to share.

10/10/11

Autumn Evening Walk

A chilly fall rain

Finds me bundled in a shawl

Warm - I walk Mollie.

10/14/11

Dark black silhouettes

Against golden orange sky

October sunset.

Crisp Autumn Morning

This morning is a cool crisp autumn morning.  The rain of the last few days have intensified the autumn colors.  What little color, we have.  Most of then maples have already dropped their leaves and the oaks have not yet changed.

Mollie and I took a drive up to Ogden Valley.  The mist rising off the reservoir reminds me of costal fog.  The cottonwood along the water edge are starting to turn yellow.

Yesterday

Not expensive crystal but just as lovely!

Sunrise flames

Above the mountains,
Rays of morning sun ignite
embers, gray clouds burn