Our weather this week has been perfect.
The night temps are down into the 50s while the days are in the 70s. We have clear blue skies with sunshine going on during the day.
Twinkling stars have filled the sky at night, while the moon, which is now waning, has been such a small crescent that its light doesn’t diminish the shining stars.
With all due respect to December and the holiday season, I’d suggest that this is the most wonderful time of the year.
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I noticed the stars early this morning while I was taking the screens out of the windows.
Late yesterday afternoon I got a phone call from the man who cleans our gutters and washes our windows. He asked if he could come over today, the weather being so nice and all.
I said “sure.”
So very early this morning I removed all the screens from the windows, and gazed into the dark blue starry sky, appreciating its simple beauty.
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Tomorrow the sprinkler system will be deactivated for winter.
The man who does this is a delightful, talkative character who always leaves me laughing. The stories he tells, often about our neighbors, are, shall we say, insightful.
But after he’s finished blowing the air out of the underground sprinkler system, the rest of the winterization chores will be ours to do at our leisure.
Or not to do at all, I suppose.
And on that tentative note, I shall end this post. An old-school style blog post that offers no controversy or angst to the blogosphere, but tells its own quiet little story. Such as it is.
THE SPECTACLED BEAN 
Not a fan of angst myself. I get enough in real life! Our weather has been pretty wonderful too. Yesterday I was in the pond (with waders) cleaning out, prepping for winter. I still have 5 water lily buds so I didn’t cut them back. I can do that in November. We have to pack up our porch cushions but the beloved husband always puts that off as long as he can. Why is opening up the yard and porch so much more fun?
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Kate, I agree. It is more fun to get things started outside, than to put it all away. I’m with your husband about the porch furniture. It stays out there until the first wisps of snow, just in case I can take advantage of it.
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You and my husband would get along just fine!
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🙂
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I love this time of year as well, but in regards to chores, especially yard work, I always think “just die already!”. I am a prolific, but lackadaisical gardener. Enjoy your day!
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Michelle, I admit to thinking the same thing about some of the plants outside. I get tired of tending to their special little quirky needs. Hope your day is as beautiful as ours looks like it’s going to be.
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Speaking of the moon not diminishing the stars, did you get to see the eclipse the other night? It was amazing to see, here, how many stars suddenly appeared once the moon’s light was turned down a notch or two. We were up at 2am to watch it. All our outside stuff is now in, as the weather is more apt to be rainy now. But so far, clear sunny days like yours, but maybe not quite so warm.
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Polly, I didn’t get to see the amazing eclipse because it was cloudy here that night. How lucky you were to see it. Never thought of the affect it’d have on the stars. I’ll bring the outdoor furniture in IF it gets cold and rainy, but so far it’s looking clear for a few more weeks.
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Ah… I wonder what the sprinkler man is telling your neighbors about you!
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evilsquirrel13, I’ve often wondered that, too. Wonderful things, I’m sure. 😉
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Fall is my favorite season. There’s so much to love about it, especially when you throw Halloween in there. Watch out for that trick-or-treating squirrel!
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Sheila, I agree. Halloween is such fun around here. The whole street goes all out with decorating and dressing up. Throw in some gorgeous trees– and I’m happy as a bird with a french fry.
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So thankful here to see the sunshine these past couple of days after 12 straight days of rain! One of the news casters said we got 11 billion gallons of water in the form of rain last weekend! I finally got out into the soggy yard and picked up all the downed limbs and sticks. It was quite a chore, but not as bad as some people whose whole household goods were sitting on the curbs today in Columbia. The cleanup there will be on going for quite some time.
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Beth, I cannot imagine that much water falling down in front of me. So happy to know that you and yours are okay, but what a mess. Truly amazing. Makes me appreciate our autumn weather even more.
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I love the little seasonal rituals. I’ve been debating whether or not to put away the sprinklers yet. I did put away the parasol and some of the deck chairs as we had a storm and there seemed no point putting them back this late in the season. Autumn is my favorite season too.
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Letizia, I don’t know why closing things down in the fall always sneaks up on me, but it does. Then boom! it’s time to get ready for winter. I’d miss the seasons if I lived somewhere without them. Like you said, it’s the little rituals that add joy to life.
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We finally had a break in the rain and the weather is wonderful. I love October.
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Allie P, I’m beginning to think that everyone in the Northern Hemisphere loves October. So pretty outside, how can you not?!
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That reminds me… windows tomorrow. At least downstairs. The upstairs windows are waiting for lawn guy who plans to power wash the mud daubers nests outside of the screens. Did I tell you I had to beat wasps off with my cane at the gas station because when I opened my little gas door thingie they had started a nest in there? Now that’s angst! 🙂 I’m a mite jealous of your blue skies, by the way. We’ve had lovely temperatures and gray, gray skies.
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Zazzy, I. Hate. Wasps. [The insects, not the people.] What an awful way to find a nest! Sorry it’s not sunny where you are. This is the one time of year around here when we are pretty much assured of blue skies, most days.
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The ending lines to this post are really lovely. Like, a “stop me in my tracks and prompt me to linger for a second, and then third, rereading” level of lovely.
Thank you for that.
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Alice, thank you. Considering the very loud world in which we live, it’s encouraging to know that someone appreciates my quiet thoughts.
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I love fall more than I thought possible. The nights are cool but the days are pleasant. NO MORE 90s!! 🙂 I need to winterize my lawn, then will be on light yard duty from November on. (I hope!)
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Margaret, we have a lawn care service that does our lawn winterization, but the raking and trimming are up to us. By late November our outside should be all ready for snow AND our lawn furniture should be stored in the basement. After that I [happily] ignore outside chores until about March.
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I laughed when I read the part about the most beautiful time of the year. I agree. Winter is too cold and summer is just too hot. I love fall. 🙂
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Kourtney, so far no one has disagreed with me about fall being better than December. Makes me wonder if it’s time to write new lyrics to that tune. 😉
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Here in California, it’s still too warm for me. Not horrid, but mid-80s, when I’d love for it to be low to mid 70s. We’ll get there.
After the wet wet summer you had, I’m surprised that your sprinklers needed to be on at all. And I had no idea there was such a thing as having someone turn them off for the winter. Life is complicated sometimes, it seems.
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J, our sprinkler system is connected to a water source in the spring, then in the fall it is disconnected with all the water blown out of the pipes so they don’t freeze and break during the winter. In the summer the sprinkler only activates itself IF there hasn’t been any rain for 3 days. Meaning this last summer the system barely turned itself on at all & our water bill was low.
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