Old Man Tree: October

After a wet Summer, September was a dry month.  The leaves had started to turn as the month began. Temperatures warmed for the latter half of the month and it was hard to believe that Fall had arrived.  But the lawn is covered by a carpet of leaves when I set out to mow each week.

When I run the mower, I mark my rows by the mulching of these leaves.  

When I look overhead, I see that Old Man Tree is nowhere near shedding his leaves.  His embrace of the next season is more stately than mine.  There is a lot more raking and mulching to come.

Cool, crisp mornings have once again taken hold; evenings arrive sooner.  There are pumpkins and mums on the front porch.  In the coming weeks, the pace of leaves changing colors and dropping into the yard will pick up.  I keep watch for a glimpse of the harvest moon as I step out back under the limbs of this tree that has passed many more years than I have.  I offer a thanks to Mother Nature for all those years and a wish that Old Man Tree weather many more of them.