Savoring Fall

Last night I woke several times to roaring wind and rain buffeting the side of our house. This morning brought still more wind accompanied by an occasional rain shower. The worst part though? Leaves. I love the leaves when they're in the trees but once they fall, which the inevitably do, they like to stick to our paved roller ski track at 10th Mountain. Wet leaves are slippery, creating the fall version of icy trails, so this morning's interval workout was tough, to say the least. This afternoon Seth headed back to the mountain to finish removing three downed trees that fell on or near the roller ski loop during last night's wind storms.

While I don't like slippery leaves, I do enjoy fall. The temperatures are finally bearable again and I can sleep with the window open without an air conditioner in it. I can wear a long sleeved shirt or capris to training and I don't drown in my own sweat. Unfortunately all this also means that our daylight is shorter each day which is kind of a bummer but I can't really complain because it also means that

WINTER IS COMING!

Yes, I am that person who absolutely loves winter. I'm sorry for those of you out there who can't stand it, that's truly unfortunate for you. You should learn to ski, maybe then you'll like it better!

A sunflower in our neighbor's garden, hanging on through fall's first cold evenings and frost warnings.

Fall also means Harvest. Harvest break, the two or three week break the school kids up here in the County get to help with the potato harvests, although we all know that most of them are just getting an extra school vacation. I've been enjoying the harvesting of our own carrots, beets, parsnips and rutabagas so far. Best of all though, our neighbor Cleveland grew a bunch of cucumbers and isn't using them so I've collected a massive bag and started making pickles! I found a simple recipe for small batches that you can make in the microwave and only takes about twenty minutes, cutting, mixing, and all! And they're soooo good! They're not canned though so we have to keep them in the refrigerator.