seen sitting in the passenger seat of an suv in a bank parking lot. and look, he's even buckled in. funny the things some adults do when it's time for hallowe'en...
here are the drug store cheepos i had to wear for two days instead of my regular wire framed glasses. over the weekend as i cleared brush, a lilac branch snagged and caught my specs as i heaved it out into the woods. it took forever to find those glasses in the brambles and leaves, and, when they were recovered, they were in quite sad condition. so i wore these scratched plastic readers while they were being repaired. and no one even noticed the change.
yes, it's blurry, i know. i was trying to photograph that orange seed pod on the birch branch but had only the lesser camera and, to make matters worse, was without my glasses. still, i like the colors and textures and wanted to post this even though its blog-worthiness is questionable.
a grey fall saturday is a good day to cut back the gardens and clean them up before snow arrives. pulling and cutting plants, one last round of weeding, and some on-the-spot divisions of plants make the task last all day. as always there are surprises - the blooming johnny-jump-ups hidden among the dead rubekia, a paper thin chrysalis hanging from dried milkweed, the strong scent of lemon balm as my rake passes over the dead flowers. in the vegetable garden, hidden under the damp vines, i find a huge cucumber that has somehow escaped picking. and on the bean pole, i cut and pocket shriveled brown seed-laden pods that hold the promise of next year's beans. after many trips to empty the wheelbarrow, i end the day with a cup of tea in the adirondack chair, tired but satisfied, as the maples release their leaves with the wind.
not sure how much longer grasses will look this feathery and winsome against the evening sky. this morning we had a killing frost. tonight the forecast is for rain - or possibly snow showers. i have yet to see a flake - and that's fine with me.
and it didn't even work. the red sox lost in game 7 of the alcs. no world series for me. no more baseball until spring. and certainly no joy in beantown tonight. *sob*
with this week's full harvest moon and a starlit cold overnight, everything this morning was tinged with sparkling frost for a few brief moments before the breaking sunlight melted it all.
after a poor start to the season, fall foliage is beyond breathtaking this weekend. here i pulled over to the side of the back road i was following to marvel in the colors and patterns and textures of the trees on the hillsides. only after moving beyond the awe and beauty of it all did it occur on me what a great shot this might make - cows and all. 
the first carrot from the garden. neither underdeveloped nor stunted, it's a variety that grows short and fat as it matures and is good for heavier garden soils like ours. other years' attempts have yielded carrots that were puny and thin, hardly more than orange roots. planting this kind was a carrot coup. i sure hope helen's reading this.
these toll house wannabes represent the most productive thing i have done in an entire week's time. don't be impressed or anything. they were from a ready to bake, ready to expire package i keep on the refrigerator door in case guests show up. but it sure felt good to finally accomplish something, even if it was a little easy baking.
maple leaves on the hill in back just after the rain. taken through the back window - a lucky shot.
