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So today is the last official day of summer.\u00a0 Tomorrow is the Autumnal Equinox but here in Dunwich fall is well advanced.\u00a0 The crickets are hiding under stones and digging down to avoid the chill well before sundown.\u00a0 Their chirping is becoming slower and weaker each day.\u00a0 The frogs are still enthusiastically croaking and piping in the swamp but even they haven\u2019t got too much longer to go.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve gotten tons of rain in the last couple of weeks so the grass is green again and growing.\u00a0 But the vegetable garden is on its last legs.\u00a0 There are some peppers and eggplants almost ready to pick and a couple of butternut squash in a race to ripen before the death of the vines they\u2019re on.\u00a0 And the flower gardens are down to a few new cone flowers and some black eyed susans that haven\u2019t given up the ghost yet.<\/p>\n
Even the dragonflies are so lethargic that I think I could catch them with my hands if I tried.\u00a0 Camera Girl saw a hummingbird a couple of days ago but they must be ready to head south already.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t seen any butterflies in the last couple of days so maybe they\u2019re all gone.<\/p>\n
So, it\u2019s officially time to shut everything down and winterize the grounds.\u00a0 All the lawn and pool furniture has to be stored away.\u00a0 My fence repairs will have to be completed before the ground freezes.\u00a0 And there are some incidentals.\u00a0 I have to install a tree swing for Princess Sack of Potatoes.\u00a0 I\u2019ll use my weight as a test for the branch we\u2019ve selected.\u00a0 It\u2019s in an odd spot because of a slope but it\u2019s the only convenient branch.\u00a0 I\u2019ve also got to replace the transmission on my snowblower.\u00a0 The parts are in but I\u2019m hemming and hawing because I don\u2019t want to do it.\u00a0 It\u2019s supposed to be straight forward but you know how that is.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the rotten wood that needs to be replaced.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been stalling on that too.\u00a0 Realistically I can skip this year but I promised myself I\u2019d get the ball rolling and tackle one or two problems before winter.\u00a0 At the least I should cover the problem areas with some tarps to avoid additional damage.\u00a0 Maybe I\u2019ll flip a coin.<\/p>\n
The shorter days are already noticeable.\u00a0 After dinner the sun is behind the hill in the west.\u00a0 The light is gone by seven o\u2019clock.\u00a0 But the good news is that I mourned the end of summer on the last day of July.\u00a0 After that I\u2019ve already skipped ahead to thoughts of winter and any incidental good weather is all gravy as far as I\u2019m concerned.\u00a0 So here I am concentrating on Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas to get me through the end of the year and into the new one.<\/p>\n
This year I have the elections to distract me from the shortening days and cooling temperatures.\u00a0 The horror of Biden, Pelosi and Schumer along with their henchmen in the Deep State and the Media should provide stimulation that can\u2019t be overlooked.\u00a0 After all we could be looking at the official end of the republic as a legitimate political institution. \u00a0That\u2019s got to be a noteworthy event to live through.\u00a0 And even if we are saved by a shocking Republican victory I don\u2019t think that will be something to sleep through.\u00a0 And who knows, World War III might be in the wings if Biden keeps poking the Russian bear.<\/p>\n
And I have a long list of tasks that I can perform indoors.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got a ton of pictures that need adjusting and all kinds of writing that has to be done so I\u2019ll be anything but bored.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s funny.\u00a0 Once it gets chilly at night, say in the forties, we close the windows after dark.\u00a0 And then there\u2019s no outdoor sounds to hear.\u00a0 No frogs, no owls, no coyotes even.\u00a0 And that\u2019s a big change.\u00a0 You become detached from the natural world and plugged into the artificial one.\u00a0 Electric light takes over and you tend to go to bed later and get up later.\u00a0 Well, not Camera Girl.\u00a0 She\u2019s plugged into the dogs\u2019 schedule and they\u2019ll get her up at 6 am even if the apocalypse descends on us.\u00a0 But I start to stay up later and read too much and watch too much television.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s normal.\u00a0 We compensate for the change of season as we do.\u00a0 And there are family activities coming up.\u00a0 Kids\u2019 soccer games and birthday parties are in the offing.\u00a0 And it\u2019s almost time to drag out the Universal Classic Monster movies and introduce the youngsters to the hokey joys of Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman.\u00a0 I think I\u2019ll indulge in some popcorn for that film festival.<\/p>\n
Okay, Autumn 2022, let\u2019s see what you\u2019ve got.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So today is the last official day of summer.\u00a0 Tomorrow is the Autumnal Equinox but here in Dunwich fall is well advanced.\u00a0 The crickets<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3366,818,1263],"tags":[2649,3341,74,1267],"class_list":["post-20468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-life-in-dunwich","category-ocf","category-stuff-that-personally-interests-me-miscellaneous","tag-autumn","tag-dunwich","tag-new-england-autumn","tag-photogs-corner"],"yoast_head":"\n