More Fall Scenes

Some time back, I wrote that frost was coming, and one of our chrysanthemum plants still hadn't bloomed. This hardy little late bloomer finally opened last weekend. It looks for all the world like a shasta daisy, but it's a mum, no doubt about it. Doug gave the plant to us about three or four years ago, and it persists, if on its own schedule. Since today is Doug's birthday, this bouquet is for him.

One last autumn glory picture is of the euonymous, or burning bushes, along our fence by the driveway. Before last weekend's rains came, I caught them on a peak day. Soon, maybe Norm will haul out the garland and white lights to adorn the fence for the holidays. Last week he cleaned out the bird feeders, outfitted the poles with new squirrel guards, and filled the tubes with seed. One with a sunflower mix is in the back border, and one with thistle seed is just outside the office window. The sparrows have already found the mixed seed one. Any day now, the purple finches and the gold finches should try out the thistle. We will know that the winter season is truly here when the juncos arrive--so far, no sign of them. Last weekend we had one last migratory visitor. Two small, plump golden birds, about junco size, were flitting from branch to branch in the maple. I couldn't positively identify them, but they seemed to be warblers of some sort. It was kind of late for such visitors to be coming through, and I had never in my life seen this species before!

Our week has been pretty routine since Halloween. We spent a quiet weekend, had a man come and vacuum up leaves, watched our neighbor's house and collected her mail because she was on a business trip. We went to exercise and took some walks. Norm did some sorting in the basement, and I did some sorting in the upstairs office, unpacking boxes of files and books and "things" I brought home from my University office last spring. They sat dormant over the summer, while we concentrated on family reunion, knee rehab, and travels. We went to the grocery store and paid the November bills--more of them online than by writing checks any more. Our printer/scanner/copier quit working in the midst of a printing job for a church project, but Epson is going to repair it for free and pay the shipping--we just have to figure out how to pack the thing securely. Today I went to a meeting to see what the benefits changes for University retirees will be in 2007. I'm thankful for a pension, for health benefits, for bills to pay, possessions to repair and projects to plan. For freedom and the ballot box, which we can exercise tomorrow. For life and friendship and love.