And So It Begins... Welcome To Autumn, 2018

"But when fall comes, kicking summer out on it's treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and then fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he has done since he last saw you."

~Steven King

Salem's Lot

I know summer has a few more hours, but I am kicking summer out on it's treacherous ass! I've longed for autumn all year, I just want to run through big piles of leaves, and feel that sweater weather chill, and think again! But ass much as I am thankful for autumn, I have to admit I have to be thankful for the summer too, because the weather was just right for producing some early autumn leaves! That hasn't happened since we moved to the Central Valley, it was usually well into October before the trees began to really light up with reds and oranges and golds, but this year the summer seems enthusiastic to begin it's long nap, and hand things over to Fall.

  

There is a lot to get through in the next 3 months. Our vacation. Our anniversary, and of course, the midterm election. I am going to have to ease back into the politics, right now I am trying to not think too far ahead, but now that I will be posting daily, I will have a few opinions to share as we move along. I will also be getting you caught up on the photography I did this past year, and never found the energy to share. I think I did okay, and I think it will be fun to share it. So, without any additional wordiness, here is the first Leaf Of The Day, for autumn, 2018!

Photographed September 9th, 2018

Stockton, California 

~Mood: Creatively Enthusiastic

~Me

 

Scary Things

From For Ellipsis

"In Witchcraft, each of us must reveal our own truth."

-Starhawk, Spiral Dance

Happy Walpurgis Night...

Tonight we will carve a pumpkin, make some hot spiced apple cider, and pray a wayward ghostie or goblin doesn't visit our door. It's not Halloween, but it is Walpugis Night! April 30th, sits exactly opposite October 31st on the calendar, which means the veil between this world and the next is at it's most slight. It is also, according to About.com, "the last chance for witches and their nefarious cohorts to stir up trouble, before spring reawakened the land."

Are you scared?

Does this frighten you?

Bwahahahahahaha!

If you have known me any length of time, you know how much I love spooky, scary stuff. Autumn is my favorite time of year, and I embrace it fully! It has been cold in the Bay Area this spring, so it feels really nice to have something fun to blame the chills on. I still have a pumpkin sitting on the window seat from last autumn, so I will carve it and place it by the back door tonight. Why do I still have a pumpkin on my window seat? I always buy several extra pumpkins for cooking, and decoration and, of course, protection, through the long dark winter months!

A Little Too Scary...

Another confirmed case of Swine Flu was just announced in San Mateo County this morning. San Mateo county is just across the bay from where I am, on the peninsula. I suppose it's just a matter of time until a case has been diagnosed in Alameda County. I hope not. Sigh. I don't believe it is a forgone conclusion that I will get it, but it's a little scary anyway. The thing that worries me the most is that the CDC knows so little about it. Hospitals in the area have just been inundated with folks who believe they have flu-like symptoms. So much so, that tented triage units have been erected, at some hospitals, to handle all the folks coming to emergency rooms.

I don't know. I don't feel particularly worried. I carry hand sanitizer with me all the time. I have to, being a diabetic, I check my blood glucose several times a day and having a bottle of sanitizer in my purse is just apart of my life. I always wash my hands before and after I touch food. That's just been a lifelong habit. Does doing any of those things make me any safer? Maybe from some things, but this is airborne, so what's a girl to do? I know one thing, as much as I like spooky movies, I won't be watching Steven King's, The Stand, tonight!

What do you think?

Will things get much worse?

Should we all be panicking?

Is it a forgone conclusion that all of us will get Swine Flu?

How did it get so big, so quick?

Opinions, opinions. Tell me what you think. Will you be celebrating Walpurgis Night along with me? Does the Swine Flu worry you? Are you taking any special steps to protect yourself? Do you get annual flu shots?

Tell me what you think.

Walpurgis Night

Hospitals Inundated with Panicked People

-Carly