Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Seasons change, and the world keeps turning

We have had the second frost of the season. When I took Abby out for her early constitutional this morning, the lawn was white instead of green. City people who live in high-rise buildings probably don't think about frosts or know when they occur.

This fall has been a strange one. The first frost occurred back in October, and in the time since then we have seen many mornings in the 50s and afternoons in the 70s (I speak in Fahrenheit). Summer doesn't seem to want to leave just yet.

The trees are confused. The maples and poplars have shed their leaves with the assistance of the high winds of tropical storm Zeta, but many of the oaks are still green and hanging on for dear life, reluctant to accept the inevitable.

i too am in the autumn of my life. One thing I know is it's a long, long time from May to December, but the days grow short when you reach September. And the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame...and the days dwindle down to a precious few. September... November...

Winter will be here before you know it. As for me, I don't dread it. I'm looking forward to spring.

And these few precious days, I'll spend with you. These golden days I'll spend with you.

19 comments:

  1. The world does indeed keep turning. And will (I hope) continue to do so when I am no longer here.
    I do envy your frost. We are lurching (faster than I like) into the sweaty season.
    I hope that you and Mrs RWP can stay safe and well.

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    1. Sue, The lyrics to “September Song” must sound crazy to you folks in the Southern Hemisphere. The days are growing longer, not shorter. My reference to winter is particularly untimely as summer approaches where you are. A thousand pardons! How on earth can we keep in sync? I guess the answer is that on earth we can’t.

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  2. Here in Iowa we have snow on the ground from our last snow storm. I am also in the autumn of my life. Fortunately this has always been my favorite season.

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    1. Emma, I could have sworn you were younger than springtime. We don't get a lot of snow here, but it is beautiful when it does come. The cold part I am not fond of, however.

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  3. I think many of us are in the autumn of our lives. You are so correct about the days growing short when we reach September. It seems like September through December is just a blur of holiday activities. By the time we get to January each year I am more than ready for the break despite the winter weather.

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    1. Bonnie, the blur is made even blurrier (more blurry?) by seeing commercials for Christmas stuff before it’s even Halloween.

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  4. I wasn't sure if I knew of September Song, so I looked it up and, yes, it is familiar. I listened to Frank Sinatra sing it in 1965, back in the spring of my life. I used to watch a lot of TV at my Grandma's house. I recall seeing Frank Sinatra many times on variety shows.

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    1. Jeannelle, i hate to admit it but I’m so old that almost all of my mental images of Frank Sinatra are in black-and-white.

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  5. That's a great song and you had fun playing with it.

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  6. Well, Bob, you've really set it out the way it is. I used to know of people in their later years for whom the days dragged out timelessly as they grew older; as their family left and their friends of equal age died; as their hobbies seemed less relevant and their purpose in life seemed less obvious and every day seemed like a week and every week like a month. Now that I'm there I've discovered that every day flashes past with yet another set of ambitions unachieved and tasks uncompleted. I don't know anyone for whom time drags any more. Never has it been more true that tempus fugit.

    As for mental images if it weren't for the fact that I am aphantasic I'm sure that all my old images would also be in black and white. Certainly my childhood photos were all monochrome so I have no idea what colour my childhood was.

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    1. Graham, I suggest “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get” as your personal motto.

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    2. Bob, that's a real coincidence. I decorate all the envelopes I use for the many many letters I send and one that I used about a year ago was the March Hare from Alice in Wonderland saying just that. I think it's a great motto. I notice that your profile includes your email so I will look out my sketch and send it to you for your amusement (probably over the weekend).

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    3. Than you, Graham!. I look forward to receiving it.

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  7. I hadn't heard the song with Frank Sinatra, so thank you for sharing.
    I'm not usually a bluegrass fan, but "There is a time" sung by the Darlings on the Andy Griffith show makes me cry. Reminds me of your September song in a way.

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  8. Kathy, I enjoyed watching Andy and Barney and Opie and Aunt Bea And Thelma Lou and Floyd the barber and even Ernest T. Bass, but the Darlings not so much.

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    1. I don't like most bluegrass music, but I do like "there is a time." Your September song made me remember it.
      https://youtu.be/ecUudG64c-w
      :)
      Hope you and Mrs. RWP are doing well and staying healthy. Hope you are able to celebrate Thanksgiving with family.

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    2. Kathy, we are well, just a few sniffles (head cold) and the aches and pains that come as we age. We hope to get to get together at one son’s house along with our daughter’s family from Alabama. Our other son is having some second thoughts about whether he and his wife should attend as both are schoolteachers.

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    3. Hope you feel better, and I hope your aches are few.
      Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving! Glad you will be with some family, and hopefully 2021 will be a better year.

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<b>Always true to you, darlin’, in my fashion</b>

We are bombarded daily by abbreviations in everyday life, abbreviations that are never explained, only assumed to be understood by everyone...