TheBanyanTree: Late Fall Saturday

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I am no longer tied to yard work.  I dumped the last of the flower pots –
the mums and pansies – into the compost pile last week.  All I have to do
each Saturday is fill the bird feeders and pick up the dog poop.  The leaves
have been raked up.  The garden beds are covered.  No more mowing, no more
watering until next spring.  We enjoy our yard, but it’s a lot of work.
Work I’m not sorry to let go for a few months.

All I had to do yesterday in the yard was fill up the bird feeders (and the
dog poop, of course!).  I am so pleased that even though we live deeper into
the city, we still have the same kinds of birds we did at the old house.  I
see cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, finches, sparrows, juncos, nuthatches,
and woodpeckers.  I love watching the birds through our kitchen windows and
our black cat does, too.

Deer still roam these parts, but they don’t seem to make it across the
street into our backyard.  I haven’t seen any deer, but I heard hoofs
hitting the pavement one early morning when I was walking Axel.  Axel and I
also saw a fox scampering across the street one morning.  And we’ve seen
some wild turkeys wondering around behind the beautiful townhouses up the
street from us.

Ray vacuumed while I did laundry.  I got out our Thanksgiving decorations
and set them around the house.  I love the muted oranges, browns, and olive
associated with this holiday.  My older grandson said Thanksgiving was his
favorite holiday, as he loves the turkey and the stuffing.  He’s a real
foodie – he’ll probably have his own cooking show someday.

I balanced our checkbook – what a joy, we actually have a couple of dollars
in the bank.  I filled out some of the forms for Ray.  I transferred a bunch
of my CDs onto my big ipod.  I bought a boom-box for my ipod last summer and
I finally hooked my ipod up to it.  I can use the boom-box instead of
hauling CDs from downstairs to play while working upstairs in my office.

I decided to move my scrapbooking stuff from the basement to my office.  I’
ll never work on anything if I had to do it in the basement.  I love our
basement; it’s divided into a family room, a laundry area, and a work shop,
but it’s cold and kind of dreary down there, not a good place to do
inspirational work, so I hauled all the scrapbooking stuff up two flights of
stairs into my office.  We have so much additional storage in this house
that my office closet was only half full, so I had plenty of space to stash
a lot of “scraps.”  My office is gradually becoming my true private working
area – a room of my own, so to speak.

Night comes early in the northern hemisphere.  It was dark when I took Axel
out for his evening walk around 5:00 pm.  It was chilly and a bit windy, but
Axel walks faster when it’s colder – smart dog.  I love our neighborhood at
twilight as people are preparing for dinner or winding down from their day.
Lights coming from the windows warm my spirit as we walk around the block.
One of my neighbors had a fire burning in their pit and that wonderful
woodsy smell hit our nostrils as the breeze blew by.

Ray made chicken dumplings for dinner.  We watched the news and then I
settled in on the couch and read The Thirteenth Tale.  It’s a great book,
but I usually end up falling asleep while reading it.

I woke up enough to empty the dishwasher, eat some ice cream, and watch the
news again.  Not much changed since the 6:00 pm news.  Then I went upstairs
to our bedroom and crawled between the warm flannel sheets and dreamed of a
perfect late fall Saturday.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be
careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude.
~E.P. Powell