SMART, SMALL, AND KICKING

So as the joke goes, a Smart, a Mini, and a Pony go into a bar(n). What will they talk about all winter? Size matters? Brains help? Keep kicking in your '60's?

Better get your road trips in soon --- the leaves are mixing gold with red. The best view is old-school behind a skinny walnut wheel and a full cluster of real gauges.

Still some surprises on the wing. Woodpeckers are passing through in S, M, and L. Evening grosbeaks scan furtively as they gobble at the buffet. And a young Great Blue Heron tries to get the Bird Network on satellite but settles for a walk in the woods. 

More signs of the season are southern sunrises, wall-to-wall leaf carpet, and longgggggg shadows.

Tomorrow is for pumpkins, and the next day for celebrating the big W. From him I got all the treats and very few tricks. 

World events are very scary these days already. Just in case you haven't noticed ---- BOO!

CHANGES ARE HAPPENING

October is bringing all kinds of changes up here. The summer ferry has made it's glide-past to a winter anchorage. See you in May??

Naturally, the leaves are doing their annual rainbow ride. But native grasses also put on quite a show. New this year is a type of milkweed called "butterfly weed" ---- bad name, important plant, showy seedpods.

Still some yardwork going on, but mostly to winterize or hibernate. Any more laundry on the line this year?

The weather and sky is most changeable in the fall. Blazing southbound sunrises, cold whitish rain, first warning of snow, but also dramatic moon and starshows. Take your pick!

Different wildlife spectacles, too. This nest is a mystery ---- too muddy to be a bird. But what mammal nests like that? Three birds at the bar. A woodpecker finds the pantry empty. Squirrels feast on apples but stash hundreds more.

Even  local kids have changed. A deserted trampoline because they're all at hockey! What changes are happening in your world?

SCARY BUT YUMMY

 The days are getting shorter and darker. If that doesn't scare you then maybe these "scarecrows" might? The annual scary invasion took over a nearby town. BOO!?

Tidying up the to-do list includes winterizing the asparagus. A big step was the venture to Lake Huron-Goderich to donate Pat's grandmother's piano stool. For all to see and marvel at, for a long long time.

Some colourful migrants passing through, going south before we do! Red is a young cardinal. Yellow+ is an evening grosbeak. This little phoebe needed r&r after straying off course.

Autumn leaves are a beautiful sight, even for this local. But so much rain that we can pick mushrooms. And so much wind the driveway is disappearing under the leaves, all the way up.

Local Cortland apples are yummy all spiced-up. The easy way to remember the formula for the circumference of a circle? 2 Pie R!!

GIVING THANKS IN LIVING COLOURS

It's Thanksgiving Weekend in Canada and as always we are beyond grateful for our multi-blessed lives. The thing is, we give thanks silently or out loud almost every day. So, yes it's a day to honour and be grateful but up here it's 24/7/365.

The proof is in, and on the ground. Great year for fruit trees, pond leaves, and buzzing bees. Not hard to get a handle on things... 

Our eyes focus on autumn wildlife, even if the camera doesn't always focus. Juncos pass through in hungry flocks. Praying mantis change from green to brown. The fox prowls restlessly. And a young deer munched casually right by the pond.

Duties of the season? Clean the view windows. Advance voting in township and city. Have familiar Chinese and walk around in our old hood.

How's your aura? Much of our sense of gratitude comes from the serenity and ever-changing wonder at home. Unlike a lot of the world, we still have enough rain but not too much. Tree leaves riot in living colours. Pick-your-own-apples up and down the lane. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.

So here's hoping you feel gratitude today, your own pot of gold at the end of your rainbow...