Cool Nights Flaming Days

Autumn paints the spider webs, turning each night's effort bright silver and pinpointing the hunting grounds of every tiny creature. 

 Lazy loops dangle from half-way up the tallest trees to end in funnel webs on burdock leaves. 

Shining strings form lacy tablecloths, high in the branches or low on the goldenrod. The temptation to reach for the camera pounces every time, but good photos are hard to find.

It is nice to see them though and to be able to duck without accidentally donning them like sticky garments, most unwanted, especially the hats and hair ribbons.

All the pines and hemlocks firs and spruces mutter in the chilling winds, virtue signaling to those flamboyant hardwoods, such a bunch of showoff these short autumn days, stripping and pole dancing to the tune of those same breezes.

Falling leaves bring dismal thoughts of months to come, but they make it easier to spot warblers, not that there are many around just yet.

It's still warm enough for shorts and open bedroom windows...barely...but a lap blanket is welcome of a too-soon-darkening evening. Sweatshirts and flannels have come out of hibernation, taming goosebumps day by day.

The sun, tamed by the movement of the earth, is gentle enough for morning porch sitting, even facing to the east as it is, and that is nice as well.

I like this time of year for the most part, although it is easy to fall prey to melancholy as the year winds down.