THE DAWN OF DECEMBER

As November comes to a close in the next three days, I wonder where the past two months have gone. The days when the leaves change from greens to yellows and reds and oranges and then to browns. The days when the colorful mums decorate our lawns. The time when I enjoy the cooling crispness of the mornings.

Today as my husband left to drive a load eastward, the thermometer read 28. The rain that was falling should have been snow, but thankfully a cold drizzle persisted. As I look at the yards I pass, the lingering brown leaves that cling to the tree branches look lonely and cold as the wind tries to coax them to fall. Pumpkins left on a few porches look out of place as neighbors hang holiday lights with shivering hands.

It's hard to believe that we even looked forward to Thanksgiving except to have a few extra days off of work. Christmas and holiday decorations in many places were being set up before Halloween. Even Santa was making appearances by the middle of November. I was thankful that a few stores rebelled and waited until this weekend to display Christmas and the holidays.

My November will end with an orchestra concert. I started playing the violin in fifth grade and played through college. A couple of times between the end of college and last year, I had the opportunity to play with an orchestra. That, however, was a rare opportunity. Last fall, I decided to join a community orchestra. I have thoroughly loved the experience and the challenge. It will be a wonderful way the celebrate the end of November.

HERE COMES THE ... SUN?

I'm sitting here on my couch, computer on my lap, looking out at the strange phenomenon called a blue sky. Along the roof top across the street, there are dark silhouettes of birds and trees, of chimneys and antennas. I think they're called shadows, but it seems like it has been so long since I've seen the sun, I can be sure.

Sure, I'm exaggerating, but the dark clouds and dreary drizzle of the past couple of days had really had me dragging.

The cat, seeing the sun, has been calling out and insisting that I open the window. His his mind sun equals warm and warm equals open window to sit in. Logical? Not to me, but I opened the window anyway.

Autumn is working its way to winter. The tree outside my window has nary a left left on it. The bright yellows, oranges, and reds that fell from my maple trees have now turned to crunchy brown curls. This morning a heavy frost decorated each leaf and blade of grass and crunched as I crossed the yard to get the dog's attention. His curious nose has given him selective hearing loss again.

TODAY? TODAY!

Today, I made the leaves dance. Well, the leaf blower we bought yesterday made the leaves dance. And then? And then I used the vacuum and mulched them all up. I learned something, though. One must remember to re-zip the bag to the mulcher before vacuuming the leaves again. I was caught up in the swirl of mulched leaves before I realized that the vacuum tube was pulling whole leaves up and chopping them up and putting them back on the ground.

Today, I used the over ripe bananas to make banana muffins. Comfort food that made my house smell divine.

Today, I spent time writing on my newest novel. I got wrapped up in listening to the two ladies in my head have a conversation over coffee and muffins.

Today? Today? Today, as the saying goes, is always the first day of the rest of my life.

Signs of Autumn

Until recently, I thought that autumn was playing hide and seek with me. It would peek out from under the blanket of heat and humidity that engulfed me at work and at home, and then run and hide. But it can't play for long. I think summer has finally tagged autumn and autumn is now it, running after winter to tag it.

The sun has been setting earlier and earlier and the clouds have lost their fluffy summer coats.

Last weekend I did a favor for hubby that had me driving south on the highway. The drive down was uneventful, but when I took the exit back home, the bright crimson leaves of the sumac danced and glistened in the sun.

My grass, which hasn't been mowed in 4 weeks, is finally in need of its last clipping.

Grocery stores and department stores have brightly colored displays of mums as well as Halloween decorations.

This weekend, my neighbors sealed the idea that this summer season has disappeared. The warm blue summer cover to their pool lay drying on the grass and now the dark winter cover has been secured with milk jugs to the pool.

Good-bye summer. I wish you could have lingered longer, but I am grateful to autumn's cool, dry breezes and the fabulous colors that have burst forth from the trees and the flowers.