Scents in the Wind

It's hard to believe that next weekend is Labor Day already. The summer seems to have flown by so quickly. In my hometown fall often sets in directly after Labor Day. I have often thought it strange how suddenly it seems to change seasons around here, kind of like a door slamming shut. One day it will be summer and the next, fall, without much of a gradual change from one to the other. I have been seeing some small signs of the coming change though.

After our summer hot spell, the nights seemed to have turned much colder, making me close most of the windows before I go to bed. It will soon be time to put the storm windows down, enclose the back porch, and generally get this house ready to endure the long, cold winter months. I still have to get my pellets in for winter, since I use a pellet stove to heat my house, I'm very late on that. I don't want to have to heat my house with gas this winter; it would be way too expensive.

My red squirrel, "Oscar", has returned, I hadn't seen him all summer and didn't know where he had gone off to. I was worried that maybe one of the hawks had gotten him, I'm glad to see he has survived. I saw him this morning for the first time, climbing around on "his" shed. He seems to have timed his return with my black walnut tree starting to drop its walnuts. I have to go clean out "his" shed again before he starts filling it up with walnuts for the coming winter, I'm not the only one around here getting ready for winter. I wonder if he's noticed that I have torn out half of the deck that he liked to romp around on so much, or how he feels about "Chubby" the groundhog who has taken up residence under his "shed". "Oscar" looks pretty fit; it appears that he found plenty of food over the summer. The last time I saw him was in the spring, when he looked awfully scrawny after enduring the long cold winter. I've noticed that "Chubby" has put on a lot of weight and seems quite ready for winter as well.

Lately I have noticed the flocks of Canadian Geese gathering for their annual trek southward. Earlier in the week a large flock had landed up the street in a neighbors yard, that has a very nice pond. They apparently were visiting my neighbors' white geese, which live there all year, and were mingling among the rest of the flock. My neighbors' geese, which like to come out to the road and harass the cars as they go by, seemed quite happy to have the company. This morning two very large flocks flew over my house heading south; is it time for them to go already? Surely there is more warm weather left and plenty of time for them to make their migration. Perhaps these are just the "early birds" getting a jump on their long journey, or are they warning of an impending long and cold winter coming?

I have been feeling very rushed, of late, to get all the things done that I need to do, to prepare for winter. In this part of the country it's not good to have winter set in on you unprepared. We don't get many natural "disasters" here, like earthquakes, tornadoes or hurricanes, but if you get caught in a good blizzard, it can be just as dangerous. There is also the "sealing up" of the house, and the planning for how you are going to heat it, still to be done. I know there is plenty of time left, but I can't help but feel a little trepidation over what I know is on it's way. I often wonder why I live in this part of the country, when I dislike winter as much as I do. The only thing I can say is, this is home for me, and always will be, no matter what comes with the wind...

pictures provided by All Creatures