Frosty Morning, Cold Fingers

30 degrees and clear this morning, with patchy, heavy frost in unprotected areas. 

Yes, it frosted.

Not terribly; the roses survived, and so did some of the flowers. but tonight will be even colder, so we shall see.

It's okay, really. It's time. We are ready for a break from gardening, and are already talking about next year and what we want to plant. I suppose most gardeners do this; once gardening is in your blood, it's there to stay.

We had an unexpected trip to town today to get our booster vaccines. We'd wanted to get them done, and when I called today to set up an appointment, we found we could get in today. The call was tortuous--after 4 attempts and an hour of my life, we had our appointments for just an hour after I called. Talk about scrambling to get ready. Both of us were in our workclothes and had plans for the day all laid out. But we weren't going to pass up the opportunity.

The trip gave us the opportunity--I guess you can call it that--to do our tax assessment at the local tax office. We usually do this in July or August, but somehow it just escaped us. I suppose it's Covid; last year we didn't have to go in at all. But it's done and that's good. I don't mind paying taxes. We get far more in return than we pay, honestly. 

We ran a few other errands while we were out, then it was back home to tackle the job we'd planned for today. Defrosting the freezer. And what a silly time to do it, you might think, and you'd be right. It really needed doing, and we want to move the beast later this month I helped for almost all of it, but finally had to just get out of Larry's way for the last shelf. It's an upright, thank goodness, which does make it easier to clean. When I got back to the house, I realized that my fingers and toes were numb from cold. I made tea and finally warmed up after a few cups. I was glad to find that there was not one thing in the freezer that needed to be tossed out. Last time we did this job, there was plenty to get rid of. It is nice to know what's left, and what we will need to look to stocking up on again. 

The sun was nice today, even though it was cold, and I noticed how the light is dappled by the leaves, and dances in the breeze. The shadows coming in through my windows are so pretty. Many leaves fell today and I expect tonight's frost will bring down many more, all good fertilizer that will slowly rot into our gardens over the winter. We don't rake; we use the blower to push them all into the flowerbeds or onto a tarp to dump in the vegetable gardens.

I set myself a goal at the end of last month: I would spend at least one hour a day getting my paperwork in order and receipts entered into the spreadsheet, until I finally have them all done. I was to start on November 1, and I did just that. I am making headway, and am determined to have them ALL done before the first of the year. Actually, it will probably take 2 or 3 weeks to get them done, so maybe I'll be finished by the end of the month. What a good feeling that will be. I've also set a one-hour-a-day goal for eBay listings. Today I have not been able to do that, so tomorrow I'll be at it for 2 hours. I have already seen an uptick in sales since I began listing regularly again, and that's a good thing. I'd like to move a lot of this inventory this winter.

I was stunned to see in the newspaper the obituary for a friend we hadn't seen in a while Mark Dooley and his wife Kate were such an interesting couple, but with the pandemic and the general busyness of life we hadn't been in touch for several years. I am so sad to know of his passing. Last week was a tough one, with reports of the deaths of friends and acquaintances almost every day. Darrell Simons was one--he no longer lived here on Joe's Run, but he came home from Akron regularly for years. He had a wicked sense of humor and was such fun to talk with. The last time I was him was the summer before the pandemic, and we had a good conversation on the side of the road. Around here, you can stop in the road to talk to someone passing in another vehicle or out in their yard or whatever. That's what we did. Darrell remarked on how I looked so much younger than him, and I said well, I was, by about 4 years. He had Parkinson's, and that is what stopped him from coming home again. He will surely be missed.

While Mark and Darrell were not victims of Covid, all of the other deaths among people we knew were Covid or Covid-related. It has been a hard autumn, and I can only hope that  winter will bring a slowdown of disease, and that by spring we will finally be on the way to seeing the end of these strange years. I can dream, anyway. Meanwhile, I hope all of you are staying well and safe, and are well tucked in for these cold days.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.