Monday, September 08, 2008

Goodbye Hanna, Hello Fall

with all the anticipation of Hanna, I was ready for a day locked in my upstairs home office, with flickering power and candles. BUT then there was the reality. I got up to an overcast sky, and drove into work on a Saturday. I put in a good 6 hours and headed back home with the wind blowing briskly. Around 2:00 PM EST the rain started to come down in little drops and a sprinkling that lasted for an hour started. This was follow by some very strong squalls for the next hour or so. Then Hanna was gone. The 7-10 inches of rain, when all was over, only amounted to only 3 inches total. Sunday morning was greeted with deep blue sky and blazing bright sun. I looked like a late spring day out and only made it up to 84 degrees. Today is also another blue sky day, rain tomorrow and then the temp falls to highs of barely 70. Summer appears to have fled along with Hanna. Fall already appears as the first leaves are beginning to fall lightly and the trees are losing their green and are changing ever slightly to browns, yellows and reds. Soon they will take on their true fall colors and the air will turn crisp and blustery. Will a cool summer lead us to a cold and snowy winter? I can only hope for a good snow this winter. In the meantime fall is coming, fires in the backyard, roasting marshmallows on sticks and pots of harvest stews simmering on the stove. Fleece jackets and hot cocoa by the fire. Squash baked with butter and brown sugar, Fall festivals with kettle corn and candled apples. Baked apples, fire roasted corn, and the Red Bank Jazz festival. To each season there is it's own beauty. Fall is the season of eating, the fattening before winter. This is for animals like bears and ground hogs. Hopefully is it a time for outdoor actives like walking trails, photo journeys into the woods, and laying on the ground at night and staring up into the sky, counting the stars...  "I think I'll just go have a lie down now...."

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