Autumn

The Scarlet Oaks along the road turned color in just the past couple of days. The Red Oak S of the old house is a much duller color. The Scarlet Oak S of the old house is on the yellow side. But the ones by the road are gorgeous! Planted too close to the evergreens, of course. I should get in there and mow around them.

Autumn Equinox approaches

I ran four miles this morning! I'd only meant to run 3.2, but went beyond the turning point a bit, to take that low hill, and then kept on over the top and down to the little bridge over the creek. I thought I could walk whenever I needed to stop running, but I started calling cadence for myself and kept on past my lane to take a bit of the big hill.

I started running again, finally, in St. Louis, around the base of the Arch. But I foolishly ran some (low) hills or rises of land, and was extremely sore for 3-4 days when we got back. But the next week I started running, just a mile or a bit, and settled on a plan. (Remains to be seen how long I follow it.) What's most important is to GET OUT THERE, but my knees are bad. (I've also started a strict regimen of glucosamine.) So I plan to run 1 mile on Monday, 2 on Tuesday, and 3 on Wed, then 1 on Thurs., 2 on Friday, and 3 on Saturday, then walk 3 on Sundays, when I have the time. My goal, aside from getting into size 10 jeans and feeling better about myself, is to run the breast cancer race at St. Luke's. But the mornings are dark these days, so I may have to run after work, at least on Tues., Wed., and Friday. The idea is that I would at least sometimes walk whatever remains of the 3.2 miles.

I think/hope I've broken the reading barrier. I read 12 Trollopes over the winter, then all of Mary Stewart, ending with the Merlin books. Then for something completely different (Henry Gibson died this past week), Gorky Park. Then Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Then Camille, which was pretty minor for such a well-known work. Then Diary of a Young Girl and a biography of Anne Frank. Now I'm reading The Time Machine and Other Stories, by HG Wells. Up next will be the 4 dystopias -- Brave New World, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and Animal Farm. Also Trilby by George Du Maurier, and then maybe Daphne, or Edith Wharton.... we shall see!

I planted all those little buddleias beyond the daylilies -- hope they take! The past couple of days I have brought a carload over from the old house. The ceilings haven't yet fallen in, as I feared the constant rains this summer would have caused, and which kept me from going in for the past three months. But we've had NO RAIN all September. Things in the old house are moldy but mostly okay -- some of the paper items are done. Today I brought the big gold balls for the winter porch, and most of the canning things. Tomorrow I want to bring the canning jars, the very last of the books, and maybe some shelves for the garage.

Pete wrote Thursday that Jules has learned she has colon cancer, and must have her entire large intestine removed.

Indigo Buntings

Yesterday there were indigo buntings outside the east windows. I first noticed an otherwise unremarkable bird that had a blue chest. I kept looking as it hopped and changed angles, and I wasn't wrong. Then it was joined by one that was blue on top. Definitely not bluebirds -- those have red chests. These were dark blue. I had let the weeds on the east and north just grow, so there must be tons of seeds for the birds. The hummingbirds are around, too. I hope they are eating Japanese beetles, but it wouldn't seem so.

Meanwhile, I have kept the rest of it mowed -- mostly just to the south of the house and down at the mailbox. If I were truly mowing eveything, it would take more than twice as long. This summer I am mowing once a week for about an hour and a half. That's doable.

I'm also planting up the west side, mostly daylilies, and edging the south side of the house with mulched daylilies and bricks. I think I will lay a sidewalk along that, so I can walk past the flowers without having to walk in wet grass. Also it will reduce the mowing by a trifle. I dug up volunteer butterfly bushes from along the edge of the new driveway. I didn't know they self-seeded!

Young deer and red birds

This morning as I walked down the lane in the mist, I chased off a deer and two young 'uns -- they'd lost their spots, but were still small. One large white tail and two small white tails flashed off into the corn, which just this week has nearly blocked the view of the road.

Last weekend, running down past the bridge, I saw a scarlet tanager. So pretty.

And the next day, a mother groundhog followed closely by a youngster came up the driveway and out past the garage. I don't care for groundhogs, but these two softened my heart -- at least while one is young.

Gina, deprived of the mice and snakes the old house offered, killed a baby rabbit and laid it just below the porch directly in front of the door -- on what would be the main walk if I had a walk.

A Good Day

I taught the 2-hour "Standards of Professionalism" to staff for the first time today, after two sessions with leadership (and a beta session with my own team, and a prototype module with EasyEnroll a few months back). It went really well -- I was sharp and funny and never lost my voice, kept it moving and kept in their faces, even though it was after lunch they participated pretty well -- and at the end they applauded me!

Immediately afterward I met with Jennifer about something, and when I mentioned what I had just been doing, she told me how good I was at training, that she often says to herself, "What did we ever do before Susan came?", and said Michelle Lockhart had told her how good I was.

I need to remember days like today when I have less good days. I had just been feeling that my module was amateurish and my presentation cheesy, so it was really nice to get that type of feedback. Jennifer, of course, wants me to develop and eventually deliver a new topic, cultural diversity. We had a good discussion, but that's not very high on my priority list. Getting everyone trained in Standards, then rolling out Benefits 101 to the supervisors and beginning to present it in a regular fashion to new hires, along with HIPAA and Standards, is primary. Dealing with GOSS is only pertinent for a small percentage of the company.

Nature Notes

Just picked a handful of large, juicy red strawberries, the first of the year. I have been working indoors and the weeds have nearly taken over the garden, which actually looked pretty good last year. On the plus side, I finished the bookcases two weeks ago. I tried staining the mantlepiece, but it was just too much dark wood, plus the (lovely) grain detracted from the beauty of Aaron's design. So I've just finished painting it Medici Ivory. I think this will work. Tried Roman Column yesterday, but way too white. I'd almost give another 1/64th shot of pink and yellow to the Medici -- but I do want it to read White, not Ivory.

I am all ready to measure for curtains, having spotted fabrics I love last autumn. But I have mail-order tomato plants and roses, and a few herbs from Hy-Vee, waiting (some for weeks) to be put out.

About 10 days ago, I finally identified 3 major things that really were getting me down -- laundry, curtains, and paper. So I called a repairman who said I would probably be better off just getting new appliances, so I bit the bullet and went to Slager's. I got their lowest-level GE washer, and would have done the same with the dryer, but most people get the second-level washer and the basic dryer model -- leaving the company with too many basic washers and too few basic dryers. So I got the second-level dryer for the price of the basic, plus got a large discount on delivery, and they hauled the old ones! I did 5 loads of laundry Tuesday night (the day they were delivered), and at least one load per day since. I have too many clothes, but now I think I can begin to let some go.

The curtains are next, and I had planned to go shopping today, but I really need to get these plants out. Okay, any excuse not to have to drive on a weekend....

I watched Gina chase a deer this morning. They faced off yesterday, with neutral results. Today I thought Gina was trying to befriend it -- she loves to rub up against other people -- and the deer seemed more interested than offended, compared to yesterday. But a second deer came up, and Gina charged it. I think she won that one. I would love to see her befrind one, though!

Anyway, yesterday I finally took the plastic off the sofa, put floor guards under the piano legs, and moved them both to where I think I want them. Not a lot of choices, in such a small room.

There's not much wind, so I should go spray weeds.

Light in the sky when I awoke! Wonderful to see. A long, bright horizon. The actual sunrise took a while, but boy is that nice. And a fattish sliver of moon in the dark SSE sky.

The sun comes up over the Sutliff bridge these days.

I walked 2/ran 1 the weekend of the 7th & 8th, as it was so warm -- 40s. Then I ran 1 after work Tues and Thurs the next week. Just had a 3-day weekend (Presidents Day), and walked 2/ran 1 each of those days, even though it was much colder -- 20s. This week, due to work and weather, no running after work, and the coming weekend is going to be even colder. I hope I will have the discipline to go to the gym. Next week looks to be warmer, but also precipitous. But hopefully it will become a daily thing again soon. I am SO unbelieveably out of shape and overweight.

Sunrise at Arrowwood

This morning, through my wonderful kitchen window, I watched the sun peek over the eastern hills a few minutes after 7 am. The sky was clear, the temps in the single digits, and the air and ground were frosty with remnants of Friday night's 4-inch snowfall. I had on GMA, as today is a company holiday (Presidents Day). The sun just showed a gleam as the opening music was ending, and visibly leapt up as Diane Sawyer began the first story. It rises so quickly!