fall

Fall arrived this week. It came blowing in with a lot of rain and mist, and Valerie raided the cast-off clothes piles to find some gloves and sweaters for me. One is a wooly hot pink and purple number that is very effective at keeping me warm and brightening up the gray. So are the cosmos and the sunflowers, which are still blooming - determined to keep some shred of summer. As am I. I can't quite believe my year of spring and summer is winding down and I'm really heading into the winter. I miss the east coast fall with the leaves changing colors and the temptation of apple picking. The nostalgia here is different with the evergreens and the gray sky reflected in the gray water.

But next weekend, I'm going to head out into it. Take a kayaking trip for 3 days in the San Juan Islands. Time to set myself afloat and look for some sea life to counterbalance the land life I've been helping to grow the past couple months. I got an exciting encounter last weekend when I went out for an hour and kayaked around the mussel farm in Penn Cove. There's a family of seals that apparently lives around the big floating mussel docks. Sitting very still in my kayak, I got to see them pop their heads up out of the water from time to time and check me out. A few were also laying on top of the docks. Their eyes are so big and dark, they have a sort of blank look to them. And yet you could tell they were taking it all in.

I'm not as relaxed here as I'd like to be. Especially with the cold weather moving in. As the trailer gets colder, it reminds me that I need to be moving on soon. And moving on to what? Sometimes I'm completely ready to embrace the unknown next step. And other times, I feel like getting into that big unflattering sweater and curl up watching the swashbuckling Captain Horatio Hornblowerand just think about how not even Gregory Peck can really pull off the 18th century knickers look. I wonder how they were ever fashionable. But I admit he does manage well in the 3-cornered hat. Which should be brought back. I can think of a few people who I'd enjoy seeing in one, can't you?