Hi ho, MMMLOGerinos!

A FAVORITE SEASON

When I lived in the desert Southwest fall was my favorite season. Nothing much happened then to show a change in season except that it got a little cooler and the days seemed less windy. You had to go up to the nearby mountains if you wanted to see any fall color or leaves turning on the wild grapevines. And of course there was the pinon hunting that our family occasionally did. Sometimes we'd actually beat the chipmunks and Kaibab squirrels to the pine cones heavy with tiny "starvation" nuts, as the old timers called pine nuts. We'd soon be covered with pitch that seemed to have to wear off, and I'd wonder how the animals avoided getting stuck to things from the accumulated pitch they surely must have on their fur. Haven't really solved that one in all these years of contemplation since.

I now live in the Pacific Northwest and find that I am not so in love with fall as I used to be. Though I love the turning of the leaves and crisp nights with sunny days, I also know that this signals the beginning of the Rain Festival. I like rain, think it's a precious commodity from my southwestern perspective, which I haven't put aside. What I don't like is the dark. By the time November gets here, it's raining, but it's also dark when you get up and dark when you come home. Dark. Dark. Dark. And I have to head south, follow the sun to Arizona for as long as I can manage. It was dark early this morning and I'm feeling the itch to turn my face toward the sun and go.........

Ciao, ciao, MMMMMMMMMMMelinda