I have a love affair with Canada geese. Ever since my childhood in Warren, CT, where I've romanticized laying on the grass in our field watching them pass by overhead from south to north. Their honks sound in my soul when I hear them, and I love their solid coloring. One of my favorite movies still, is Fly Away Home.These guys I feel sorry for, as I see them year-round. These poor critters have no business being in Florida past, like April. It bothers me that they could be suffering from climate confusion. I suppose, depending on their intelligence, they could've elected to be snowbirds year-round, but somehow I doubt that's likely. We have several flocks in the area, two that I'm aware of nearby...there's a dozen or so that travel between St. Luke's and Baymeadows, and there's a batch that live in my business district off of St. Augustine Road near Bayard. I'm cynical enough to wonder if some outfit trucked them in for decoration. Ah well...I love spotting them and when I see them, I talk to them briefly and tell them I enjoy their company. Yes, I'm a little tweaked.
I spent the afternoon thinking of stuff for this next bit, and it put me in such a good mood! I'm hitting the Southern Women's Show with Mom on Sunday (an orgy of brochures, free samples, and free food), but I hope that Saturday can be a day filled with baking, organizing, doing something with apples and pumpkin, and hanging curtains in the bedroom. The temps are finally dropping for a pinch this weekend.
Autumn is...
Apples and pumpkins
And leaves on the ground
Wood smoke and chill nights
And family gathered 'round.
It stops rhyming here, so don't get your hopes up...
Curling up by a fire sipping hot cider
Raking leaves for the sole purpose of then jumping into the pile
Crisp air
Digging out the woolens and boots
Finding a knitted cap for long walks after dinner
Cold noses and toeses
Extra blankets on the bed and not needing AC
The smell of leaf rot
Trying to dig and realizing the earth is cold
Jesus, how'd I survive as long as I have in Florida?!
Grabbing a jacket before you step outdoors
Rosy cheeks and wind cutting through your slacks
Soups and stews for dinner that have spent all day in the crockpot
Colors and colors and colors in the trees!
Hot cocoa with little marshmallows
Jack o'lanterns and the last harvests, finding new ways to use squash
That last one's a biggie...I start planning my side dishes for Thanksgiving a full month ahead.
Making sure the car tires are in good shape
(and keeping a window scraper in the trunk for good measure)
Contemplative evenings
Fall festivals and foggy mornings
Dreaming of eggnog
Walnuts to snack on, and apple butter on English muffins
Starting holiday gifts
Smelling the air, straining your eyes against the grey sky for a glimpse of flakes
And the warmth of wrapping yourself in a woobie when you come in from the cold.
10 months 'til Charlotte...I WILL make it happen this time!
1 comment:
Re: geese... In New England, some ponds have signs saying not to feed the geese. They only migrate when they don't have food through the winter. Maybe something similar is happening down South. We've transplanted so many food sources outside their native regions that the geese can live in FL year 'round. Kind of like the folks with pollen allergies who moved to AZ and then planted all the flowers and grasses they remembered from home, thereby defeating the purpose of moving. I'd say the geese are smarter than the sunbirds.
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