yesterday

The gray clouds rolled in and stopped overhead, cutting out much of the sunlight. The dog and I made our walk around the townlet, and his preoccupations and mine divided further, his toward the smell of leaves and whatever scents they carried, and I noticing the much cooler air and the changed soundscape from only a few weeks ago when the bugs sang their nighttime tunes -- now it is the rustle of the leaves crunching underfoot.

I fell asleep on the couch after lunch with a big gray tabby cat spread across my stomach, a rare experience since naps do not come easily for me. Leaves continue falling even as their colors are only halfway to autumnal hues. The maple in the front yard, always the last to lose its leaves, have edges of a deep dark red. The giant sweetgum next to it hardly waited for any color before it began dumping is many star-shaped leaves.

One of the viburnums has started turning colors while the others are still mostly green -- these shrubs are usually the last to loose their leaves and the first to leaf out in the spring. I wonder if the one with its reds and yellows is diseased or stressed. I cut it back last year. Perhaps I am at fault.

I picked up my large order of grape hycinth or muscari at church yesterday. The newer varieties are much larger, with their blooms lasting longer. I planted a few of these last spring. I didn't have the heart to try more tulips, but I did get a small order of oriental lilies. At some point, I may get a few more daffodils -- there can never be too many in the spring.