I guess I am in a writing mood today. I am waiting for it to warm up a bit and then John and I will go for a bike ride. I am not a dedicated athlete like Katie, more a fair weather one, who is more than a bit picky about my biking conditions, not too hot, not too cold, not too much wind, blah blah blah, blah blah blah. The truth be told I am not even an athlete at all. I am someone who get on a bike and peddles.
I will need to mow this afternoon when the dew dries on the grass. It has been a season of no mowing breaks due to all the rain and cooler temperatures. The grass is green and still growing. Ours is actually more a combination of crabgrass, clover and various weeds, but when it is mowed from the road it looks like grass. I am sure there is a metaphor in there somewhere, looks are deceiving, things are not always what they seem, etc.
Anyway I am getting a bit tired of the mowing ritual. When we first moved to The House on Downing Road John wanted to let the grass be brome or something that would grow tall and in the fall change to a golden color. You would mow it only two or three times, thus reducing our carbon footprint, but I was the voice of disent. I wanted a nicely trimmed "Johnson County lawn", ok you are not supposed to have weeds or crabgrass in a JC lawn, but you get my point, well now I am thinking, perhaps John had it right after all. Check back next year.
Living out in the country one would expect us to see all kinds of interesting critters, but what we see is usually pretty much what city folk see, raccoons, squirrels that don't have the brain the size of a grass seed to stay out of the road and of course deer. This summer though has been a vocal one for coyotes. We never see them, but we can hear them at night singing into the vast starry sky and open fields. Then Rocky will reply with his less poetic WOOF WOOF WOOF. I used caps because he has a very deep WOOF. Another interesting observation this year has been tree frogs. They seem to be very plentiful. I see them spread eagle on the screen of the atrium door when I let the dogs out for their last potty break of the night. I have seen them on the screens of the second floor windows too and these are 40 feet off the groundm maybe more, again in that spread eagle posture. The visual lends itself to a creepy 50's science fiction type movie "Attack of the Tree Frogs", or maybe "Attack of the Giant Tree Frogs", or better yet, maybe a re-invention of Hitchcock's "The Birds". This would be "The Tree Frogs". Anyone creeped out yet? Anyone going to look at that innocent little tree frog a bit differently now? On another interesting note, we had another bobcat sighting this week. I saw him/her running across the yard. It always takes me a moment to wrap my brain around what I am seeing. The first thing is "wow that is a big cat", then I realize bobcat. Annie was the one who alerted me to its presence. The acorns are falling and the raccoons are daring the deck to get them. Annie can push the door open from the kitchen to the deck and runs out their to bark at them and give chase. We have to keep the door shut at night now. John saw one run off the deck and across the deck last night when we came home.
The cooler temperatures will mean the leaves will soon be turning and falling. I watch that transition with sadness as I know the next season is not one that I can look forward to with longing or fondness---winter with the "S" words, snow and sleet and just for good measure the "I" word for ice and the ever popular "wind chill" phrase. Well I hope everyone enjoys the bounty of Fall, crisp juicy Jonathan apples, tart cider and a fresh hot apple dumpling, throw in some pumpkins, squash and nuts(the edible kind) and a bonfire with hotdogs on a stick and winter is just a vague passing thought. Well I am done writing. John infomed me that it is time to get off my duff and get ready to peddle.