How sad would be November if we had no knowledge of the spring! ~Edwin Way Teale, Circle of the Seasons, 1953

We seldom think of November in terms of beauty or any other specially satisfying tribute. November is simply that interval between colorful and dark December. Then, nearly every year, come a few November days of clear, crisp weather that makes one wonder why November seldom gets its due.
      There is the November sky, clean of summer dust, blown clear this day of the urban smog that so often hazes autumn....
      There is the touch of November in the air, chill enough to have a slight tang, like properly aged cider. Not air that caresses, nor yet air that nips. Air that makes one breathe deeply and think of spring water and walk briskly.
      ~Hal Borland, November 1970

“It was a beautiful bright autumn day, with air like cider and a sky so blue you could drown in it.” 

― Diana Gabaldon, Outlander

“In November, the trees are standing all sticks and bones. Without their leaves, how lovely they are, spreading their arms like dancers. They know it is time to be still.” 

― Cynthia Rylant, In November

The Sunday after Thanksgiving these green limbs popped out of this box in our living room ....

.... and suddenly (six hours later) became a Christmas tree

Grandpeeps after school

“November; Crows are approaching - Wounded leaves fall to the ground.” 

― Sir Kristian Goldmund Aumann

The only color left in our back yard except for the faithful evergreen shrubs

The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year,

Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sear.

~William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878), "The Death of the Flowers"

I've never seen this one before. White paws. When the bird feeders are full,  the squirrels don't stop until their bellies are full and the feeders are empty.

This may be the last picture I get of granddaughter Shelby with scarecrow Jeff. She's outgrown him.

“Autumn is the time of year when Mother Nature says, “Look how easy, how healthy, and how beautiful letting go can be.” 

― Toni Sorenson

Winter Time

"Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.”  -  Robert Louis Stevenson, Winter Time
Happy TGIF, everyone! Stay toasty tonight!

The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.” ― J.M. Barrie, The Little White Bird

Hawk soaring in that perfect blue sky over my house the last day of February

Just because everything is different doesn't mean anything has changed. ~Irene Peter

Peace, y’all! Just wanted to let you know, in case you’ve dropped by this blog more than a few times, that I’ve made some changes [thus the above quote] which have given me the chance to provide a way for you to follow this blog if you’d like to. Links are at the bottom of the page. I hope you’ll follow and drop in whenever you get the chance.

Daughter Kelly and Grandson Knox stopped by the house this afternoon and invited Neil and me to go for a walk/ride around the block. Knox is saying, “Where’s Grandpa?” Grandpa was on the other side of Knox’s sweet ride.

The wind was a little chilly, but who cares when it’s 50 degrees with lots of blue sky and warm sunshine, making it an awesome day to be outside.

The weather folks say we’ll be warming up quite a bit this week. Won’t that be nice!

Clouded up later this afternoon. Bummer. You’ve got to grab that blue sky while you can get it. Have a wonderful week, everyone!

"There seems to be so much more winter than we need this year." ~Kathleen Norris

A true statement, if ever there was one. Today we got a break with temperatures in the sixties and lots of blue sky and sunshine. Neil and I went for a walk around the block so we could soak up a little bit of this wonderful weather on the first day of February. Snapped a picture of the sunlight in the bare trees. This is what the picture looks like after I ran in through a new app I discovered recently called Waterlogue [available in iTunes app store if you’ve got an iPhone or iPad]. Fun stuff. Hope you got to enjoy some warmth today, especially if you’ve been buried in snow lately. Winter is nowhere near done with us yet. More cold and wet on the way, they say. But we sure did enjoy this hint of spring. Makes us hopeful.