Winding Down

September Sunfire

Another cool autumn  morning. Sunrise was non-existent and dull and dark.  Not like the beautiful Sunfire I collected only a few weeks ago -back in late September. The sun was at it's finest, the sky still asleep.  Why not wake up to natural beauty?  At times it pays to be an early bird. I  habitually waken with the sun year round, sometimes it seems it might be a bad habit, a now unnecessary relic left over from agricultural days, but it also offers amazing, surprising moments. In our area, rising with the sun means 5:30 or earlier in the summer, but closer to 9:00am in the middle of the winter. 

I'm guessing the lovely Indian summer here  is winding down fast. Being stuck in the middle of October may have something to do with it.  Here in NW Ontario we've already had our initial hissy-fit of  sleet, snow flurries, killing frost, cold rain and bluster.  The once brilliantly-colored leaves are fallen or turned dull as day-old pancakes by the rain and damp.  
Now it's time to wait for the first heavy snow and biting cold. What else to do but wait?  Too funny. We can certainly distract ourselves with work.  There are ever more tasks to complete before the snow hides them all.  
Pick up miscellaneous bits and pieces of trash. Collect dog toys from all over the yard. The snowblower doesn't like pull-toys, it chews them up and spits'em out with a vengeance.  Drain and roll up the garden and irrigation hoses. Winterize and park the rototillers and mowers.  Drain, service and store the irrigation pump. Collect and haul hay mulch. Haul in the last of the late cabbage.   Dispose of garden waste-giant tomato plants, sunflower stalks, potato plants, Canadian thistles  et al -organic detritus all-- gets buried in the  'heap' or will help in building the hugelkultur --an ongoing engineered gardening heap.  Mulch the garden beds. Plant the garlic. Locate the snow shovels. Move out an old vehicle. Clean the garage, install the big snowblower on the tractor and carefully set down the bonsai to winter-proof them...and so it goes.  Rake the leaves eh? Ok.
 I've already got the snow tires on, and the potatoes are dug and stored. Garlic is planted. Dozens of pumpkins and spaghetti squash are all prized possessions of new owners or tucked away somewhere.
Imagine that. I'm almost caught up, this October morning....a first. 
Why?  Unlike, in times past, there is no longer firewood to prepare.  Ground source geothermal heating does that. Fell, haul,  cut, split, pile and stack...no more.  I miss it. Get used to it, Jack. Lifelong habits die hard.  How lucky. Keeps the blessings in focus, doesn't it?
Coffee time.  That oughta' do it.  For now. Maybe tomorrow morning I'll sleep in. Maybe not.


Is that Incoming I hear?

Photo credit:  r.a.kukkee