Hello September!

I awoke this morning and let the dogs out, only to notice that overnight the trees have turned red, the dry straw of the unwatered lawn is turning green again, and the trees have started to drop their leaves.

View from my back door, September 1st

I am up before the sun rises, and it will be almost dark when I walk the dogs in the evening. How did the summer fly by so fast? I am yearning for a long, long fall of crisp mornings and cool but sunny days with clear blue skies. Such is my favourite weather, and here on the west coast we are sometimes blessed with it until well into November.

For me, another year has flown by, for today is my birthday. I had great plans to take one or more of the dogs to a far-away park or beach, where I would enjoy the outdoors and share a picnic lunch with them. Instead, I have been humming and hawing over photos to enter in the upcoming Cowichan Exhibition, staring at a sink full of dirty dishes and a growing menagerie of dust bunnies, and accomplishing little. In fact, I didn't even walk the dogs this morning - a first for me since I retired. Phone calls interrupted my routine, and that was the end of good intentions. Oh well - it's my birthday and I can spend it any way I please! I told the dogs it was their gift to me - a morning off.

My friend Else is bringing fish and chips and a bottle of wine over for dinner this evening, so I will do a wee bit of celebrating after all.

And now, I think I'll have a little nap. Birthday girls are allowed to do that. Maybe the elves will sneak in and wash my dishes while I sleep.