by James Glaser
September 24, 2004

I could tell the season was changing as soon as I stepped outside this morning. The air had a clear crisp feel to it. Maybe seeing the leaves on the maple trees changing color was a tip off too.

Living by the lake will give us another few weeks of frost free weather, but it is coming. There are always moments of panic this time of year. You start thinking about all the things you wanted to get done and you didn't. I still have to get a new sliding glass door in upstairs. The new door is up there and I am not going to live with it sitting in the room all winter.

I already have the dock pulled up the hill and I have picked up the yard some, but there will have to be a change of tools. All the gardening tools will have to be put away along with the lawn mower and the winter tools will have to come out. The snow shovel is a must as are jumper cables, battery charger, and a tow chain. You never want to have to use them, but it is a pain looking for them if you have to.

Fall is maybe the best time of year. There are no bugs, usually it is warm and dry during the day and cool at night for sleeping. Lots of birds are coming through here now as they head on down south. I am starting to see more buck deer and the velvet is off their antlers. Bear hunting is almost over and duck hunting has just begun. Early last Saturday morning you could hear the low rumble of shotguns early in the morning as it was parent/ youth duck opener.

This weekend it is supposed to be warm and the moon is getting bigger, so it will be nice walking around at night in the moon shadows. A neighbor is getting married about a half mile from here and everyone will turn out for that. His brother is cooking turkeys on the grill for everyone and it will be a fun time for all.

One bad thing about fall is all the hunters who come up. 99% of them are real nice and the shooting doesn't bother me all that much, it is just the added traffic. Sometimes on a fall weekend twenty five cars will drive by here in a day, while in the winter there might be two.

Summer people are packing up their cabins and putting away their boats. Soon just the local people will be around, and then you know you are really living in the woods. Every day is quiet, every night is silent except for the animals. Soon I will hear the wolf again and I will feel at peace