'Nuff Said

The picture says it all: This is how my days have been.

Muddy.

They say we have three seasons here in the Willamette Valley: Winter, Thaw, and August. We've had our winter, now we get muddy thaw until August. Fun. ;) 

Oktober

No, that is not a spelling error. I put the 'K' in there on purpose. Oktober is simply the German version of our 'October', and while it refers to a month of the year, it also translates to the word, "harvest". 

At this time of year, the pastures are a veritable sea of sienna, scarlet, rust, goldenrod, orange, and emerald. A grand harvest of colors...

The air outside smells of wood smoke, tinged with newly sawed pine. Looking across the hills, I can spy curlicues of smoke, rising upward in cursive shapes. I hear the geese calling, as they fly past. Their songs are faint this year; their flight is higher than I can see. We shall have a long, cold winter this year... 

Pumpkins are being harvested and brought in. Jack o lanterns guard our home with perpetually smiling countenances and unblinking eyes. When lit at night, they look like glowing orbs from a different planet. Except for the smiling. Maybe if they weren't always smiling they might be a little more intimidating... 

The goats are all getting their shaggy winter coats in, and the chickens have just finished their moult. Arrayed once more in their glorious iridescent feathering. The black bears are moving northwards from our property now; away from the plentiful blackberry bushes, and closer to their dens. The coyotes sing every night now. I recognize each one by their distinctive wail. At the moment, there are only eight of them. The other six have parted for a time... The leader has a low, long howl that ends in a soprano hook. Unmistakable. Identifiable. Methodical is his song. The hair on my neck stands on end as I listen to him gather his pack, and then they all join together in what sounds like a dirge. I shiver as I listen to their last notes die off, and hurry inside. When they finish singing, they begin their march... They must eat. Blood must be spilt. The country in the daylight is a delightful, friendly place. But at night, it is a creature to contend with... Here there be monsters...

Oktober. A time of harvest. Whether it is for the bears, as they try to pack on the winter calories before nestling down for a long winter's nap, the coyotes as they hurry to get the latest boom of rabbits, or we humans, as we scurry to pick, can and freeze the bounty that still comes even in this changeable weather... We are all harvesting.

It will not last long. Enjoy Oktober while you can...

Wet Carhartts Ain't Fun

It rained last night. I'm not talking about a small sprinkling either. Or a shower, or a "raining-cats-and-dogs" sort of rain. I do believe the word "torrent" would aptly fit last night's weather! It was the kind where you can hear the rain drops hammering your house, over the loud movie you're watching (as was our case), and when you stick your head outside, you can't hear yourself think. It rained. Hard.

 Normally, I enjoy such rainy evenings. I like listening to the deafening roar of water pelting the world outside while I remain warm and dry inside. But last night, I groaned as I realized that the laying hens were in the chicken tractor, and if they didn't get washed away, then the roof would probably break soon from the weight of all that water on a tarp roof. There was only one thing to do: rescue those poor chickens and put them in the coop/rabbitry. Phooey.

 On went the armor. One heavy duty Carhartt coat, a hat that looked like something Indiana Jones would wear, rubber boots that have cracks in both of them, and along came a pint-sized lantern that belongs to my four year old brother (no, it didn't have Thomas the Train on it!)

 Oh boy... I underestimated just how wet it would be out there. And dark. I didn't think dark could be so... Dark. ;) I'm afraid the little lantern couldn't quite cope with such a big job. As I suspected though, the top bar on the chicken tractor roof was bending precariously, and threatened to snap at any minute. So out came all 14 chickens! I kid you not, I wasn't even out there for five minutes before I was soaked to the skin. The hat kept the top of my head dry, but all that water proceeded to pour down the front of the brim as I leaned to grab an unsuspecting hen, and got a face-full of rain! My boots filled with water as I splashed through puddles (one of these days I'm going to buy myself a new pair...) and my denim skirt became awkwardly heavy as it continued to get more and more wet.

The Carharrt coat was the worst though... The rain was pelting so hard, that it penetrated the thick coat lining all the way through, and my once warm, dry coat, was now a wet, clingy excuse for a coat. Wet denim is terrible... Blugh.

I grumbled to the chickens as I ferried them to their new quarters, but they were too sleepy to comprehend my words. I suppose that can be a good thing.

When I finished my work, I went inside. Every single inch of me was sopping wet. Except the top of my head. That Indiana Jones hat worked pretty well. ;) I decided there and then that if the barn started to float away, I would let it. I wasn't going out in that fury again for the night.

 This morning, when I went out to do barn chores, I had to wear my still-damp Carhartt. Ick. Wet Carhartts ain't fun.

October is Officially Here

And it came with a bang. This is a glimpse of Oregon's famed "liquid sunshine" that we got this afternoon to herald the changing month.

Waiting For Seagulls

It was cold outside this morning... The chill penetrated both my fleece sweater, and my Carharrt coat, as I walked to the barn. The goats looked like dragons, with their breath spiraling in front of them. The pumpkin plants were edged with frost, looking like something from 'Cinderella', and even the birds seemed reluctant to start their morning songs. October is quickly sneaking up on us, and with it, it is bringing vivid colored leaves, cold snaps, and azure colored skies. There is only one thing left to wait for...

The seagulls. I await the arrival of the seagulls now...

Changing Seasons

 Slowly, things are beginning to change here in the Willamette Valley.... We've been joking that summer has "finally" started, as we've had the first days of high 80's and low 90's. ;) Our July hovered in the 70's, and August wasn't much different, so this September has been nice for us heat lovers. But amidst the heat... I can feel the seasons changing... Today, as our afternoon coastal winds blew in, the tangy smell of salt water came with it. I love that... In a few more weeks, our Red Tailed hawks will be traded out for seagulls, who will make a nuisance of themselves in parking lots, and will stay until next spring. Trees are slowly beginning to change hues, and trade their cool, green colors, for warmer, scarlet and goldenrod shades.

 More than the seasons are changing, as I look around... There are some things in particular in my life, that are changing, but I am not yet ready to share that.... Maybe soon. 

 I used to hate change... I guess the goats rubbed off on me, and I liked it when everything was exactly like the day before. As I've grown older, I've changed too; and now I look upon changes as an adventure. So here's to cooler weather, autumnal colors, and seagulls in town! ;)

Photos are courtesy of my dad, taken in 2006.

Quietly, quietly....

Suppose We did our Work

Like the Snow, quietly, quietly,

Leaving Nothing out.

~Wendell Berry

For the first time.... There's not enough.

 In the past, it always seemed like the trees would never stop dropping leaves. As soon as you thought you had raked up every rogue leaf, there were hundreds more all around! This year, I have been busy raking up the leaves, and putting a thick layer on the garden. Why is it, that when you don't want 'em, they're everywhere, and when you do want them, they suddenly become scarce!? :-/ 

The garden is halfway covered, and I desperately need to finish covering it before the frosts come. The half that is covered looks so pretty, much like a patchwork quilt in autumn hues. One square of fiery colored maple leaves, one of drab Cottonwood, a streak of apple here and there, and one purple patch of pear.... ;)

I've begun to look at trees differently lately. It's like another sort of harvest.... You watch the trees as their colors turn, and whoop with joy in the morning when you see a thick layer of leaves everywhere, like snow. Our property is surrounded by trees, I would have thought that there was enough to cover the garden area, but I don't know... We'll see. 

I love autumn....