Last weekend was glorious—dry, sunny, and bright. When I came home from school of Friday afternoon, after two hours on the Spartan Garden blackberry bramble, our neighbor had lined up all of his leaves from the linden trees in a neat windrow along the road. Leaf Time! We gathered our tools—wheelbarrow, shovel, rake—and began moving leaves until dark. The next morning, we looked at the leaf pile, the back yard, and the housework list. I crossed off everything inside and we moved outward. Mark shifted leaves. I cleaned out beds. He chopped up compost. I pruned grape vines. Then we ate lunch and went back outside. Right before dark, we washed and hung the last storm window. The yard and garden were snug for the winter. The next day, we went for a long walk at Finley Wildlife Refuge, basking in the late fall sun while eating a picnic. We watched white swans take off against the blue sky when a coyote crept up on them. In the late afternoon, we carved our pumpkins to protect the house and gardens on Halloween night, then came inside for lasagna and apple pie by the fire. It was a lovely weekend.
This weekend, the clouds have come in, so we did all of the housecleaning we avoided last week. Mark cleaned out the fridge. I washed the floors. We folded the last of the laundry drying in the living room, put away all of the small objects that tend to float towards the bench in the living room, and watered all of the plants. The house is clean and tidy. Tonight, we may have another fire and smores while we read The Economist and begin knitting the purple sweater vest I have been planning to clear out my yarn stash. Winter is coming.