The local weather soothsayers claim we'll have daytime temperatures in the 60s most of this week and at least one night with a temperature of 44°. It seems fall is in the air.
I've noticed a few trees starting to change colors lately. Not the brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows you see when the colors are at their peak, but just the beginning — a loosening of the green, just a touch of color. In a few weeks it will be more visible, unavoidable. And after that, the descent to the ground begins in earnest.
The front yard is swarming with yellowjackets. Yellowjackets are very active in early fall, and this year, they've decided they like one of the evergreen shrubs in front of the porch. They crawl all over it and fly around it all day long. This is odd behavior — I've never seen yellowjackets on that shrub before, and come to think of it, I don't think I've seen them in this number on any kind of shrub ever. Normally they build their nests in the ground, a fact I was painfully reminded of several falls ago when I ran over a nest with the lawnmower. I don't know if there's a nest in the shrub or not. Either way, the first heavy frost should take care of them. Hopefully.
Dinner this evening was acorn squash stuffed with rice, cheese, and various spices — acorn squash being a crop harvested in the fall. It was almost good enough to make me think I could become a vegetarian. I've actually toyed with that idea a few times. The cheese would throw it for some purists, though, and I don't think I could go without cheese. There are subsets of vegetarianism which include cheese, fish, chicken, or eggs, and I might be able to pull that off for awhile — but at some point I'm sure a steak sandwich or a nice fat burger would throw it for me too.
Quite a bit of cooking going on here today in general — a loaf of bread by me, and a cherry chocolate cake by Martha with some of her Pampered Chef stuff. I like it.
The sun is setting earlier, and we now have more darkness than light. We are, in fact, losing almost two and a half minutes of sunlight each day — and we're losing sunlight most quickly at this time of year. No signs of my seasonal affective disorder yet. Last year was bad... it started in late August. Knowing that's coming up is one of the few things I hate about fall. Fortunately I've figured out how to treat it, so I see a trip to the pharmacy in my near future. I've found it's best to be ready when that little visitor comes around.
And on we go, the days ticking away and the clocks spinning. There's comfort in the regularity, the rhythm, the turning of the wheels of life.