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Praetorium Honoris

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Gray Skies, Wet Ground

The summer is gone...
The sky is gray, the drizzle continuous. It seems that only a few short days ago we had this -



The air was warm, the sun was shining, the robins were still tussling in the garden. Oh brave robin red-breast, what is the cause of your strife? The ladies have retreated to the deep wood, the summer is gone, fall is here and your struggles are in vain.

Now the north wind begins to stir, the leaves, though colorful in spots, begin to fall from the trees.

Normally the leaves of our saw-toothed aspen go brown, then fall.
This year they are showing some color. Still they fall so fast.

The fallen leaves litter the dying grass. Winter? Not now, but soon. All too soon.
The Rose of Sharon has dropped its flowers. The last of the red peppers will be harvested soon.

The streets glisten with the much needed rain. The land has been groaning for moisture, not as bad as some places, but many reservoirs are very, very low. This rain, though somewhat depressing, will help restore the fields and forests of my beloved New England.

Big Girl in the rain.
(That's what I call my Honda Element. What, you don't name your vehicle?)

Some people hate these gray days, not I. It's all part and parcel of the changing of the seasons. Those warm fall days where the sun kisses the golden fields and the autumn foliage are so much the sweeter when they follow the gray drizzle of late September.

Besides which, some of the most beautiful poetry in the English language was written about days like this. Savor these days, soon the blast of Winter will be upon us. For now, enjoy the sweet, sweet smell of Autumn, even when it's raining upon these fair hills and valleys.

20 comments:

  1. It's been a mild summer down here. I don't remember many, if any, 100 degree days. Certainly not any in September which is unusual. Several mornings I've stepped out the door and the temperature is pleasantly in the 50s. Thankfully, there's been Rain! Not a big fan of cold, so Texas Winters work well for me. Winter on the ROK filled the cold requirement for me.

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    1. Winters in Korea were nowhere near as harsh as those I experienced growing up in Vermont. But that was more a matter of degree, there were days in Korea where I missed Kadena, a lot.

      That being said, it's been a very cool, dry summer up here. I 'spect the winter is going to be on the harsh side this year.

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    2. I'm thinking the same, course "harsh" probably has subtle differences in meaning based on location.

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    3. Hahaha.

      Yup, those differences can be "subtle."

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  2. It's cooled down here, as well.
    Cool being relative, as it is still in the 80s.
    The trees still hold their leaves and the garden is still flourishing, except for the cucumber plants.
    It appears the rain last week may have been a tease.

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    1. Sorry to hear about the rain being a "tease," I know how badly it's needed out there.

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  3. I really like the third pic, with the longer view of the garden and the sun behind the tree. Those two white chairs under the tree seem to be calling out for a couple o' occupants and a few malt beverages.

    Apropos o' Juvat's comment about "filling the cold requirement"... I filled mine during my one year, three days, eight hours and ten minutes in NoDak. I THOUGHT I knew cold, and then I went up there for a year. There was nothing between me and the North Pole except for mebbe six or eight barbed wire fences. Never again.

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    1. I like that one too. I have been known to "hold court" at said white table and consume a malt beverage or two on a summer day.

      You're right about NoDak, holy crap it gets cold up there!

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    2. Why Not Minot? Freezin's the reason!

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    3. Heh. I had forgotten that old jingle. Actually spent three days there. in early June. I think all of the snow was melted by then. Stayed light until around 2200 as I recall.

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    4. Why Not Minot?

      Heh. I have to laugh at the folks who were stationed in Minot and complained bitterly about the conditions there. My friends and I used to go down to Minot to party, because there was a CITY (of sorts) there. Fortuna AFS, where I was stationed, was 149 miles NW of Minot, right on the junction of the NoDak/Saskatchewan/Montana borders. The population of Fortuna while I was there was 75 benighted souls and the town of Westby MT, where I lived, had all of 250 people. I had a great good time while I was up that way but it was ALL because of the friends I made there... it certainly wasn't the environment.

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    5. Heh. North of Minot? Isn't that known as Canada?

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    6. My youngest brother and sister were born at whatever BMEWS site was near Miles City Montana. In one of those wondrous AF Personnel decisions, the AF determined they had too many fighter pilots and therefore, fighter pilots should be GCI controllers. Dad spent 7 years in ADC, Miles City, somewhere near Bismark ND and then at HQ Ent AFB before he managed to get back to flying at Webb when I was 12. I do remember riding saucers off the roof and snow drift at one of those places. Talk about see 'em coming views!

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    7. I recall that NoDak was pool table flat. Miles and miles and miles of "not much."

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  4. I like gray days. We need rain!

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    1. A little gray makes the sunny days that much sweeter.

      And yes, we needed the rain.

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    2. Me and you. 30 years in Cali or the Middle East and I still love the rain now that I live in MetroParkCentralis. I missed it a lot over the years.

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    3. Do for 30 years you pretty much never saw rain? (I know, a slight exaggeration.)

      How depressing!

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  5. Rain restores... Not only the planet, but us... :-)

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    1. No argument here. I'm enjoying the rain, it's sustained but gentle. Two days in a row!

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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