Fall, Falling, Fallen

A cold front's moving through and rain is falling. It's been cloudy all day and now evening is falling, too.

Funny how your sense of smell can trigger strong memories. Tonight - for the first time this season - I smelled fall.

The earthy aroma of fallen leaves and wet dirt.

Canine Harvest

A walk in the woods is very different these days for the dog. Usually she's bounding ahead, stopping occasionally to sniff the ground or raise her head to catch some airborne scent. She's learned not to chase the deer - but, boy, does she want to. She'll sit there quivering, eyes fixated, as she overcomes the innate instinct to give chase.

Now, though, she keeps her head to the ground as we walk, snuffling back and forth, searching for the perfect specimen.

She is on the hunt for her autumnal prize.

She'll sniff, but then pass by, several of the offerings, waiting to find the one she wants. I'm not sure what criteria she has locked inside that Labrador brain, but when she discovers the one she desires, she surreptiously - even guiltily - snatches it up and, mouth slightly agape, starts hurrying towards home.

Only when she's reached the safety of the Oriental rug in the living room will she settle in to devour it...a task which requires no small amount of work.

But she has her treat: the perfect hickory nut. Not for her the green or damaged ones. Nor will she take the easy road and go for the already-shelled nut. She likes hers whole, dark, big, and round.

A word of warning - these can be nature's banana peels. Step on one, and your foot can go rolling right out from under you.

And one more thing: remember to pick up the remnant shards of the extremely hard and thick hickory nut shell left on the rug. If you forget, your bare foot may pay the price.

Fall Equinox and an Explanation

Tomorrow summer supposedly ends, and autumn begins. Though I must say, we haven't had much of a summer here in the Heartland. The air conditioner (sorry KCP&L) wasn't used as much as in past years - and the days seemed to speed by.

I've noticed a few trees beginning to turn. The nights are cool and great for sleeping - windows open and a comforter in use.

"This is the Autumn Equinox, when the fruits of summer are taken inside and made ready." - Danaan Perry

On the seasonal wheel, this is a time of balance, of equal hours of dark and light. My Celtic ancestors celebrated the Equinox as a time of harvest - called Harvest Home or Harvest Thanksgiving or the Feast of Dionysius, among others. Christianity co-opted the holiday, as they did so many others, turning it into Michaelmas.

It was/is a time to give thanks for the gifts of the Creator. And it was a wake-up call that winter was coming...when life recedes into the earth and the world appears dormant or dead. A time for contemplation.

I've had plenty o' time for contemplation - I injured my back the day after my birthday and have spent the last several weeks alternately communing with an ice pack and a heating pad. The best description I have for it is "sledgehammer to the middle back." Thank God for a chiropractor whom I've dubbed 'the miracle worker.'

(Here's where the explanation in the headline comes in: I wrote my first blog entry in Word on Aug. 26, my birthday, but because of the back thing, didn't get the entry posted and the blog going until yesterday. Hence the mismatched dates on my first entry.)

How did I injure myself, you ask? I TURNED MY HEAD. Period. No great exertion. Just turned my head to the side to look at something and felt a pop deep in my middle back. What a pisser...

A friend of mine always asks, "And what's the lesson here?" Hmmmm. I have a birthday that is of a significant number and - wham - the universe debilitates me. As my brother the shrink told me yesterday, "In the last third of your life, you can't be casual about the body you live in."

The seasonal wheel keeps turning...and sometimes it's a bitch.