welcome fall
All of a sudden it's fall. The morning air has taken on a chill, and even at mid day the adults watching the kids playing in the park are happy to have their sweatshirts on. The Northern Spy apples are ripe, and I made the first apple pie of the season. And right on cue for the equinox, the leaves started falling today. Of course, the gusty wind probably helped; the weather is definitely changing.
I'm totally ready, from a psychological standpoint: it's been so humid and gross the last couple weeks I haven't wanted to spend any time outside. The garden and the yard are a mess, and probably won't look good again until they have a good six inches of snow on top of them. But I also have lots of things I probably should do before the winter. Lots more apples to pick, for example. And I should probably fix the rotted-out spots on the porch before winter makes them even worse—not to mention more dangerous. And things like that. When I look at it that way, the changing season is kind of panic-inducing.
We were delighted a couple weeks ago to release our first successfully metamorphosized monarch butterfly. The second one is pupating now, which seems a little late to make it all the way to Mexico this year. And then today we found yet another caterpillar, munching audibly on the dried out milkweed left in the cage (I hadn't replaced it... I didn't think anyone wanted a fresh supply!). What will the weather be like in 3-4 weeks when that one is finally ready to fly?! I think I know how it feels.
Still, fall is lovely. We're very much looking forward to celebrating it tomorrow at Bedford Day, and then with lots more outings and adventures over the next month. Hopefully I'll remember to take some pictures.