Fall

I'm not a big fan of the Fall season. It means that winter is right around the corner. It means cold, cold weather. It means I'll only be outside long enough to run from one warm place to another. It means my gas bill will go up 300-percent as the furnace kicks on to warm the house.

Fall kind of reminds me of death, all the leaves falling, all the plants going dormant. Everything is just kind of gray.

But without Fall I couldn't enjoy Spring. So I'll put my head down and just try to bear through it.

I have to get out there in the backyard today and try to collect leaves for pick-up on Wednesday. It's probably the chore I least look forward to. Looking over my shoulder, out through the yard, I'm guessing I've probably got 12 huge bags of leaves to collect. Fortunately, thanks to Alyssa and Charlie, I've got a leaf blower now to alleviate a whole lot of raking.

I've been trying hard to work smiles onto Barb's face. She is having a tough time coping with the loss of her grandmother. I do understand. And whatever pain she feels, I feel too. We are one.

Not even the big Phillies win last night brought her much joy. I'm used to seeing Barb break out her special "Phillies Victory Dance," after a big win. But there was no dancing this morning.

She's a tough girl. She'll come around. Afterall, she puts up with me all the time.

And I'll get busy blowing leaves and gathering them for pick-up, as the two squirrels yell at me for cleaning up their habitat.