SEASONS

I noticed a flock of geese flying South just the other day; clear blue sky with puffy white clouds, it was a great day for flying!!  The grass in the meadows was frosty and the air crisp, you could see your breath!  The Sonora Pass is closed, at least temporarily, by the storm last Sunday that put a dusting of snow on Pinecrest Peak and Burst Rock.  Time to get the ol' wood box full for winter, wrap those outside pipes, and check the snowblower so that it is ready when that first six inches falls out of the sky.  I guess it would be easier to just FLY SOUTH like the ducks and geese, but then we wouldn't get to enjoy the WINTER - skiing, snow ball fights, a warm cup of ____ by the fire with a good book wrapped in your fuzzy afgan.

The WEATHER is a'changin

Time to pull the sweaters out, cover the swamp cooler, clean out the gutters and downspouts and DON'T WAIT TOO LONG either!! Thundershowers today following a gulley washer or TWO last Monday/Tuesday says that winter is on the way!  I could smell the wood stove smoke in MiWuk last Tuesday morning and while it was supposed to be in the high 80s Friday and Saturday, the cooler weather came in sooner and had all the various yard sales running for the tarps!  We haven't made it over the Sonora Pass to see the aspen leaves and after today, there might not BE ANY left on the trees. 

I had some friends harvesting apples this weekend so at least it was cooler than it has been!  We had better figure out a way to squeeze Ducking for Apples into our church Festival on the 30th - that is ALWAYS a winner!  We had one young man who figured out that if he took the apple to the bottom of the "pan" the resistance would allow him to snag it with his teeth - he just had to hold his breath while doing it!! 

Have a FUN event in October - Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up FAST!

RAIN

There is nothing like a rain storm to clear the air, settle the dust and produce beautiful rainbows across the sky.  Yesterday afternoon's thunderstorm did all of the above. We haven't heard any fire trucks or seen any air tanker plane dropping fire retardant, so the noise and light show must not have been of the fire making variety.  One Stanislaus Complex Fire per lifetime is sufficient!!  But just the thought makes one thankful for the thinning that has been accomplished in the last few years around all of the occupied territory on Hiway 108.  Saving houses and lives can be impossible if the trees are so close together as to be unhealthy and to produce extra HOT fires!!  God bless our firefighters wherever they are and keep them safe!!