Summer: here and gone - part two

In mid-September, already the leaves were turning fast.  There were cool mornings and the super hot days.  As I walked with the kids to school there were bright red leaves at our feet; a few here and a few there.  Someone said to me it was the dry weather.  I believe it is also because of the cold, cold mornings. Or is that the maple sap?  I can never remember. So summer was here and now it is gone. Soccer is all about us, even though the World Cup is over.  And the weather is still nice and warm for this time of year.  Even though we had some rain, rain, rain.

I have a new office which I am settling into, and I am gearing up for CD number 3. I am trying to put a studio together with duct tape and old board, pillows and billowy sheets!  It might not sound great but will look incredible!  I even stapled my collection of way-too-many Ben & Jerry carton lids to the walls for looks and to help with the sound!  Function and funky (they are clean, though)!  My plan is to record it myself - the stories part - and have Stevens Blanchard tweak it, and make it pretty, then record the music with him.  He and I will put it all in the pot, mix and then cook at a low temperature for about an hour.  It should work!

The days are beautiful.  The leaf peepers are in town from Mass and CT and everyone with a daily routine has to add an extra 10 -15 minutes to their commute as they follow folks with no schedule to keep.  The rain took down a lot of leaves, but there is still splendor all around if you look.

Today we went to a farm and were treated to all sorts of things - farm stands with fresh, homemade apple pies; local authors selling their books; painters;  fife and drum performers; a trio of fiddlers; hay rides; cider pressed right before us (which we drank, of course) and all sorts of other goodies.  We even had a go at stilt-walking and found that we need to make some of our own as it was so much fun.

Whilst we walked around the farm I wondered at the history of the place and how busy it would have been in its hay day.  Who was the Colonel who had the mill and what was he like?  What did he make at his wood mill, or did he only use it to make planks and boards? We talked about sling shots (which my son made there) and what folks would have used before rubber bands were invented.  We talked about how an acorn would really hurt if someone was hit by one fired by a slingshot, even by accident!  I wondered what the old stone walls knew that we didn't and what secrets the trees were privy to.

It was such a beautiful day and if you let the colours blur as you drove by (if you were a passenger!) the scenery looked like a water fall of shades of red, gold, yellow and green.

When we got home we made pizza and ate apples (so fresh they almost fell into our bag from the branches) cut up and lightly sprinkled with cinnamon, and then read stories before bed.

Tomorrow I will look for wood in our garage that could be used to make stilts.  And then we will walk to school on the stilts, just for the joy of it.

Peace,
Simon