I Love That the Dry Fall, with Warmer Temperatures, Have Brought Such Wonderful Hues to My Backyard

Focusing on the little things, after having to fix a wheel bearing on Friday morning. It wasn't what I was expecting for the day, but they had an immediate opening, so I just did office work in their lobby (which played kitten/cat, puppy/dog, animal joy videos for hours. It makes for a calming Subaru experience. When you have 130,000 miles on your car, it's paid off, and you debate how much more of an investment you should make, you rationalize that maintaining the car to keep monthly payments from reoccurring is a good thing.

We walked along the Sound last night, too, with cooler air moving in and, by the water, most of the trees are already bare, whereas inland they are still clinging on to the branches. I know I will mow one more time after they all fall, to fertilize the leaves into the soil. 

The blueberry bush, however, turns into flames this time of year and I love that they continue to bring me fruit in the summer (although I've always read the wetter the fall, the more of a year...it's been remarkably dry...in fact, there is fire warnings because it is so dry). 

I had a wonderful conversation with Alice Hays from Bakersfield, where we planned for NCTE and also discussed their pathways to teaching in California. It's always enlightening to hear from other states - she actually flew into Arizona to judge a Bands of American competition, so we conversed from her hotel.

This morning, I'm heading to the Vicki Soto 5K and I'm thinking of Matt Tullis and his joy for running. I always think of him at such races, saddened that his life was cut so short...an aftermath of childhood leukemia. His zest for running, health, and family will always be with me.

I believe the temperatures are dropping again, which is probably good because it was so warm on my porch yesterday, that I had to move into the house where the sun wasn't cooking the windows. Not worth breaking a sweat while writing. Here's to the weekend and the hustle and bustle of condensing joy on the not-as-laborious days.