THE SEASON OF COMPLETION!

They are promising us several days of rain, and I am hoping this time the wind doesn't push it elsewhere.

We are very dry here.  Yesterday I walked around the yard and there are parts of my lawn that actually crackle and crunch under your feet when you walk on it - just like walking on a field of straw and stubble.

It's going to take a lot of rain to hydrate that grass and all the other vegetation out there as well.

I still have carrots in the garden, but I can't get them out of the ground - it's like they are in cement, and we have very sandy soil here.  I have potatoes that I didn't plant that have to be dug up and one renegade Zucchini plant that decided it had better show itself, after me waiting almost 4 months for it to appear.

It's time to get the yard ready for bed.  We have a big plum tree to trim, perennials to cut back, lawn ornaments to collect and stash away in the shed.  I'd like to edge all the gardens one more time before the snow flies.

That's what I love about fall  - the slowing down, the cutting back, the putting away, the cleaning up.  The end of the growth and work cycle of mother nature, and the introduction of the rest and deep sleep cycle.  I really don't know how I would function without this wonderful season.  It's the season of completion.

I would be very happy if the heat stayed away as well.  Don't you just love those cool mornings and evenings, and nights when leaving your window open a crack means you have to pull another blanket up over your shoulders?  These are the days when socks go back on your feet and sweaters come out of the closet.

These are the days of earlier sunsets, and early morning calls of wild geese heading for warmer shores.  These are the days for saying so long to precious feathered friends who have lived in our trees and bushes and grazed at our feeders - oh how we will miss their beautiful songs.

These are the days when the long dormant knitting needles are moved to a basket on the floor beside our favourite chair, and the days when our favourite chair catches us in an afternoon nap that lasts longer than 10 minutes.

Fall - The season Of Completion - How wonderful it is, after all!