First Day of Autumn!

 I'm expecting to see snowflakes flying by my window any minute! It was in the 30's last night (low of 37F), and it hasn't warmed up much so far today. Plus, there is a really vigorous wind right out of Canada! In fact, when I looked a little while ago, Anchorage, Alaska, was warmer than here, and it was still dark there! The wind nearly whipped the door out of my grasp when I went to measure precipitation this morning. We had another .62 in.  yesterday, which brings us to just under 5 inches in the past 5 days. That is more rain than we've had all summer, I bet. 

So today is the Autumnal Equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere, when there are equal hours of daylight and darkness. After today, the days will get shorter and darkness will overtake us a little earlier each evening until the Winter Solstice when we'll begin to gain daylight hours slowly. Then, on November 6, we'll set our clocks back one hour, to try to compensate, but that really doesn't change anything except it does louse up one's internal clock considerably. But the world keeps turning , controlling the ratio of light and dark in spite of human efforts.

I went out to get a picture of my pond a few minutes ago - wearing my winter parka!!!! It just felt right to grab that after my brief experience with cold and wind earlier to read the rain gauge. Jamie told me this morning he finally gave in and wore long pants and long sleeves instead of shorts to work this morning. I'm sure there will be short-worthy days ahead, but as one of the forecasters at WCAX said yesterday, we can look for snow flurries in a couple of weeks, probably, so it's time to haul out warmer clothing. 

The rain has been good. My pond is about 3/4 full - it is nice to be able to see the water from the house again. I finally received the photos I tried to transfer from my phone to my computer a few days ago, that didn't want to go through. So here are before and after shots - the picture on the left shows the pond at just about its lowest, on September 8, and below right, what it looks like this morning. With more rain coming, I might have a full pond by the time it all freezes over! It is very murky because of the banks having been exposed and the heavy downpours washed them badly. There is also water coming off the bank above the pond, so it's going to be soggy out there for a while.

Another sign of the change of seasons - I had Wood's Windows come to do my windows yesterday. I delayed having them this spring because I needed some work done to tighten up my kitchen windows and thought it best to wait until that was done. Now everything is tightened up, ready for winter, and my windows sparkle. Nick and Amanda are such a nice couple. Actually, they were married about a week ago. Amanda said she has been handling scheduling, etc., sort of "in the background," but now she's working alongside Nick. They are a great team - in and out in no time, and they do excellent work for a very reasonable price. Nick even checked my rain gutters, and Amanda cleaned my screens and put them away for me. If you need your windows done, I highly recommend them. You can reach them by phone, 802-249-8308, or email: nickwoodwindows@gmail.com. They live on West Hill in Cabot, and Amanda told me they hope to schedule jobs into early November this year, weather permitting. 

Now I need to get my hummingbird feeder in, cleaned, and put away, and get set up for feeding my bird friends this winter - among a few other chores necessary to prepare for cold weather. I got all the storm door panels in place before Nick and Amanda came, so they got cleaned, too. The house is always quieter once the changeover from screens is made. That also makes it seem warmer, somehow. I haven't brought out my mittens and winter scarves yet, but soon. And I don't "fall clean" the house, like my mother did and like I was trained by her to do. I did that for many years when I was first married, but somewhere along the line, I gave up all but swapping thin summer blankets in favor of  comforters, and I change drapes in the living room and bedroom - mainly for a fresh look. But I don't scrub the walls and woodwork anymore, or clear all the cupboards, repaint, and wash all the dishes before putting them back on fresh shelf paper, like my mother did. With all the garden harvesting, canning and a full-time job, I wonder how she found time. As my dad would say, she was a worker! That is not in the genes, apparently.