Around the Neighborhood

Well, it's been a whirlwind of an October so far! The past two weeks or so have included two backpacks (Quehanna and Sproul), a bunch of outdoor adventures, and even one last swim that featured both cold water AND autumn foliage colors. WOW! We sure get around!

So, of course, it was time to stay home and do some things. And maybe, eventually, make our way into town for a little bit of this and that. Alas, my husband woke up with a tick attached to his upper left back in the morning. Yuck. We're not sure if he got it during our grand swimming trip, or at home in our yard. 

But item one on our agenda for the day was that I removed the tick, put it in a tiny baggie, filled out an online form, and sent that tick off to the Tick Lab for analysis. Every time you get bitten (and I should know; I've had FOUR ticks this year!), it's like a scary game of Russian roulette: what bad stuff does this tick have, and was it attached long enough for it to transmit those bad things to ME? WE HATES THEM, MY PRECIOUS!!!!

It was another gorgeous, sunny, summer-like day until about mid-afternoon when the big clouds began to roll in. So I did some yard work. My husband did what may be our final mow. The original butterfly garden along the side of the house was overgrown and needed tending. If I don't whack it in October or November, the joe pye weed and monarda fall down against the house and hold moisture there. 

So I spent about an hour and a half on that, wearing my nice new butterfly-themed gardening sleeves, and brandishing my whackers. I pile the stuff I trim off by the edge of the woods; any little critters living in the detritus can stay there or climb out, on their own discretion. We do not BURN things here.

I took a break in my day to take my bike out for a spin around the neighborhood. Sometimes I just go across the street. Sometimes down to Autumn Meadow Park. Sometimes over to Stonerow, or to my favorite little pond in the Barrens. This was just a pleasant neighborhood scene with nice light through the trees. Everything is golden here.

Evening would bring more clouds, and then, finally, rain. It has been very dry here for the past few weeks and there was a threat of wildfire danger. But the sky opened up after dark, and it rained a fine, steady, gentle rain for more than a half-hour. We sat on the front porch and listened. I could almost HEAR everything taking a drink. It was such a lovely and restful sound, the sound of October rain. It is so good to be home.

My soundtrack song is REO Speedwagon, with Find Your Own Way Home.