How I love Montana's "Indian Summers"! Clear skies, day temps. in the 50's & 60's, night temps. in the 30's, snow-topped mountains & Autumn foliage declaring God's glory & showing His unsurpassed artistry, the smells of hay & apples & burning leaves... Yesterday, MaryLou & I returned to the Kootenai Creek trail, which we had hiked in the spring. Kootenai Creek was a raging, white frothy river with the spring run-off. Now it was a fourth the size, but picturesque in a totally different way. Light dappled the steep canyon cliffs & golden leaves blanketed the trail, the water & any horizontal plane around. The areas of golden larch/tamarack trees were sprinkled among the other evergreens. For the first time, we saw painters set-up along the trail edge trying to capture the Fall glory on canvas. I tried to capture the mellow feeling of satisfied senses with my new Olympus. (I'll add the photos to this blog if our dying computer will let me. In fact, I took a couple photos of our old apple press when we returned home...I'll add it to the previous blog if I can.) We only hiked 1 1/2 to 2 miles up the rocky, roller-coaster trail. It was a wonderful mini-vacation. It was just too gorgeous!!
Today is similar. I ambled slowly up our lane to the mailbox & back, soaking in the warmth of the sun & fully appreciating the rust & russet bushes. Turning back into our drive-way, I sunk to an all-time low to find a reason to remain outside. Why do I have to find an excuse to continue enjoying this gift anyway? Well, I started the evening chores early. I lingered at the sheep & horse troughs which I had just filled with sweet-smelling third cutting alfalfa & Timothy grass hay. I laughed at the antics of our 8 hens as they each tried to push themselves into the best position to devour the pear cores I had dumped into their outside dish. I even grabbed the shovel - Yes, I did - and started the chore I usually hate...cleaning up the dog doo! Dog doo & golden hair that sheds all over my home are the only two things I don't love about my golden retrievers. When my daughter was 5 or 6 years old, Louis introduced her first outside chore to her. He called it "Treasure hunting". He would try to find more piles than her to shovel up & throw over the fence into the pasture where the sheep & horses freely left their deposits. That game lasted a week or two. Then there were contests of how far they could throw the dog doo into the pasture. This game lasted longer & had wonderful side-effects for my daughter. She developed great upper body strength & won the baseball throw at the Hershey's Track Meet in Missoula so she could compete at State. When Esther got older, she would hurry through this chore. We started to tie letting her do extra things she wanted to do to how many piles we found after she said she was done with her chores. I was extremely thorough today & I'm sure I beat her best low score. I inched my way through our lawn. I almost congratulated Ari when he decided to squat & add a fresh pile. He has become my walk & jogging partner in the mornings...& had shadowed my every move through these evening chores done in the afternoon. I did not sink to rock picking in the field. That chore had been a disciplinary one for Esther. I was treating myself to a slice of rich colored & fully ripened Fall for my memory-bank.
2 comments:
Hi Carol,this here is Eagle Eye Di.I enjoyed your post.Would love to see your pictures.I get in and view your blog now and then.Keep going with your journal,its something special.How's dad? Have you been with lately? The fresh piles found in your yard could be deer.Keep journaling.This here is Eagle Eye Di over and out I am Ron Smith'twin daughter.
Shalom, Thanks for your comment. Your Dad spent last Sunday afternoon at our home. He brought Marilyn Carter with him. She was widowed earlier this year & has been spending Sunday afternoons with him recently.
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