Is it just me?

Is it just me, or is October just zipping by? Is it in a hurry to get somewhere -- with or without me?

Is it just me, or is there an awful lot to do yet, season-wise, before stores begin stocking Christmas items?

Is it just me, or does it appear as though the leaves are in no big hurry to jump to their deaths?

So, a couple of weeks ago I surmised that it would be wise to wait until all of the leaves had fallen out of the maple tree in the front yard before attempting to rake this year. Yup...and then it rained. :^P Raking limp, wet leaves is no fun...and it's a lot of extra work to boot. Made myself a little cranky looking at half-a-tree's-worth of leaves soggily laying all around the yard, so I stopped looking at it.

B-u-t, the last several days have been beautiful. Sunny, rain-free, crisp, not too breezy.....a-n-d there's my tree. Still clutching a mountain of bright yellow leaves like it has some sort of contest with the other trees on the street!

The neighbors' trees are having a great time, dropping leaves like there's no tomorrow (and I am about ready to make a midnight attack and rake their leaves back across the lot line where they belong). Oh, yeah baby, I would.

I love the way fall looks. Love the way it smells and feels and tastes. Love the flavors of the last apples and the cider...and the donuts! The collections of colors in the leaves and fall flowers, and the greys of the sky and heavy clouds on some days. But most especially, I love the sun brilliantly shining through trees full of amber, orange, flaming- and rusty-red leaves. There's even a strange beauty to be enjoyed in the empty branches left behind once the trees are bare.

Is it just me, or.....

Oh, pheh! It's probably just me.