Fall is Coming

The weather remains summer-like, dry with day temperature in the eighties, but it feels like fall is coming.  Maybe it's the earlier sunsets.  Maybe it's the appearance of the fall crocus yesterday.  Maybe it's the maturing of the garden, the ripening and gathering of blackberries and raspberries and the grapes  turning color.  Maybe it's just an instinct as people talk about school starting soon and church choir starting up again.  Maybe it's the undeniable aging of a man who has enjoyed seventy years of life.

I could fuss about what's not going well or I could dwell on the great blessings of life.  Our full grown mature has but one pear, yes, just one, we counted them, this year, however, the younger pear tree with its five varieties grafted into in base - only two varieties remain - is over loaded.  The Barlett variety seem nearly ready for picking while the Oriental variety are rock hard and far from being scrumptious.  The blackberries which grow in the neighbor's ground and hang over our sagging fence within easy reach for me especially if I use a ladder.  With long sleeves and a heavy gloves, I gently move the vines within reach so the other hand can pluck the berries.  Blackberries don't ripen all at the same time so once a week I pick again the vines I picked the week before.  Washed and spread out on a cookie sheet, the berries are frozen and bagged before being stored for the winter.

The cycle of the year, at least as years have presented themselves in the last decade, suggests that I will soon be returning to the front of a university classroom, this fall to teach Website Design to and for teachers.  I have always looked forward to this time of the year, in fact for many years there was no break as I taught year round.  Now I ponder if I even want to teach another term past this fall.  I love the benefits of teaching, first and foremost working with students, but I regret and try to deny, I'm tired.

For now I bramble on about the arrival of fall and give thanks for the health and energy I do have.