Autumn at Last!

Autumn has finally arrived in southwestern Pennsylvania. You can argue that the calendar has been saying it’s already fall, but with temperatures on Monday hitting 90 degrees and shoppers out in shorts, tank tops, and flip-flops, you could’ve fooled me.

Today is gray and rainy and chilly. Typical October weather. I think we can finally take the air conditioners out of the windows. My biggest concern is that we’ve missed all of those lovely, crisp sixty and seventy degree days that are so perfect for horseback riding. Last Sunday, Admiral didn’t want to move. Already wearing his furry autumn coat, he broke out in a sweat just breathing. I’m sorry, but the sun is not supposed to bake your brains in October!

Having said all that, as long as we still get some nice, low-humidity, cool (not COLD) days, I won’t complain about the extended summer.

Another weird thing about this year’s weather is the leaves. Usually by now, they’d be orange and yellow and fiery red.
Instead, a few of the trees are bare, but the rest still have green leaves. It has not only FELT like summer. It looks like it, too. So the big question is: are we going to have a showing of fall colors or are the leaves going to drop off while they’re still green?


Apparently, the squirrel hunters are not happy. They can’t see the squirrels amongst the leaves. I envision the squirrels snickering to themselves as they hoard their nuts for winter.

I usually don’t really like fall all that much. It means that cold wintry blasts of air will soon be slamming me in the face each time I step outdoors. It means that hunting season has arrived and I’m no longer free to ride on Saturdays unless I wish to risk being shot by an over-enthusiastic hunter who mistakes my mop of brown hair for some form of wildlife. But with all the “excitement” of the past year, I am looking forward to the change in season. I welcome being snowed in. Don’t remind me about shoveling driveways…For the moment, I choose to live the fantasy of being stuck indoors with a quilt, my cat, and a cup of hot cocoa, doomed to a day of reading and writing.

And for the moment, I’m dreaming of a few nice autumn Sundays aboard Admiral with no flies and no sweat.

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