It's finally October!

It’s dreary and rainy, and the air is chilly, if not quite all the way into raw, today. I love it!  This feels exactly the way October should feel.  Of course, if the weather was like this for the entire month, I wouldn’t love it so much, but after the first week of the month when  temperatures was in the 80’s, I’m relieved to have everything back to normal again.

This is the kind of weather that gets all kinds of waterfowl moving south.  This is the kind of day when flock after flock of Canada geese will feel the urge to fly, the kind of day that reminds me the juncos will arrive soon. Winter is coming, after all.

This year I have a bumper crop of beech and hickory nuts, as well as acorns, around the cabin. They are falling off their trees, now.   When the big beech nuts land on the cabin roof, they land with a pop and then more noise as they roll down the pitched roof.  The noise always sets Baby Dog to barking.  Apparently, she thinks we are being attacked.  The nuts make quite a racket, and I’m awfully glad none have landed on my head when they fall.  At least not yet.

Most years I gather up the hickory nuts to eat, though sometimes the squirrels get to them before I can, so I don’t always end up with many that are fit to eat.  Right now, the deer that are living just off the edge of my driveway are enjoying their bounty, too. The oaks are providing plenty of acorns for the deer, though I can’t honestly say any of them look fat from them.

Activity at my feeders is picking up, too, with nuthatches, titmice and chickadees the most regular visitors.  That, as much as anything, is a sure sign the weather is turning towards cold weather.