Now we're closing in on "the holidays . . . " and a change in the weather.  Today was more like late September than November.  The sun was bright and warm and on my way back from Southwest Hill in Cabot, I saw a woman blowing leaves out of her back yard - big time.  She had a powerful blower and an enormous pile of leaves tumbling away from a stone wall and some flower beds.  I was thinking what nice bedding they would have made over her flowers, but apparently mulched leaves were not part of her ritual for putting the flowers to bed for the winter.  I'm relieved that we don't even try to rake leaves anymore.  We read somewhere that they provide some nourishment for the soil and it's best to leave them or just run over them with the lawn mower.  I don't think either of us bothered to confirm that bit of information - it was too perfect a solution for avoiding back-breaking work every fall.   Like we don't rake after mowing the lawn, either.  Sometimes our lower lawn looks like a windrowed field, but we don't have to fertilize it as it seems to replenish itself perfectly well.

Further up Ducharme Road, on the Carpenter farm, I found this group of turkeys scattered across the road.  By the time I got my camera out they were in the field below the road, and I was able to get only about half of them in the shot, but they were totally unafraid of the car and obviously enjoying the nice day like everyone else.

With Thanksgiving almost here, it's time to get serious about plans for Christmas, too.  Christmas is different for us now we have children in the family.  We gave up giving each other gifts years ago except for drawing names a few years until even that got sort of ridiculous since we were all adults.  There are other ways we celebrate the season - volunteering, donating gifts for less fortunate children, giving to food shelves.   I have to admit since we've had grandchildren Christmas has taken on a whole new meaning.  When Tangeni visited us last week, she pointed out all the "Christmas trees" on our lawn.  I guess the snow that covered them made her think of Christmas decorations.  At three years old, I doubt she remembers much about last year's Christmas, but she surely understands about Christmas trees.


Tangeni called us tonight.  She always asks "how's Woody," and tonight I told her he had just come in from being outside in the cold, but that he was in my lap getting his feet warmed.  She said, "Woody's here."  I thought she'd misunderstood, but she kept telling me Woody was at her house.  I finally gave up trying to figure out what she was telling me, but then her Dad came on the phone and explained that since she had visited us on Friday she has been pretending she is Woody, lying on the floor like he does and last night wanted to eat her supper from a dish on the floor.  That didn't happen - I guess her Dad gave her the humans vs. animals reasoning - but that explained why she was telling us Woody was at her house.  I'm sure Woody would be flattered if he could understand . . . she sure does like him!  And I think the feeling is somewhat mutual.