What a gorgeous Fall day. Fall arrived at 4:44 this afternoon and right on cue with the cooler temps and harvest décor aplenty. I love the whole Fall season and its trappings. I enjoy watching the homeowners outdoing one another with clever Fall decorations before the Halloween items get dragged out. I’m not a fan of those blow-up, bigger-than-life monsters or neon Peanuts characters on lawns, but I like the more-traditional Halloween decorations. Today I saw people tying cornstalks to gas lights and adorning front doors with Indian corn. I saw a few hay bales and fake-em-out pumpkins that looked like the real deal. I’ve not been to a farm with a pumpkin patch in decades, but it was always a fun time and a great photo opportunity while picking out your perfect pumpkin or having your picture taken on a bright and sunny day with a big hay wagon in the background. Call me a by-product of the 60s and 70s, but I kind of like those groovy-looking psychedelic veggies. Nothing says Fall more than a cornucopia brimming with Striped Sweet Dumpling squash or those squash counterparts with spotted or speckled rinds. No cornucopia is complete without those goofy-shaped gourds or bumpy mini pumpkins which look like they have warts. I also like checking out the various scarecrows with their smiling faces and down-home charm as they stand guard next to porch steps or in front gardens. This year I saw girl scarecrows wearing straw pigtails with calico ribbons standing alongside boy scarecrows clad in checked flannels and denim duds. Their smiles are infectious and I wanted to smile back, but checked myself lest I should lose my credibility.

I’ve never seen a chipmunk but I use this little guy as my Facebook profile picture once Fall has arrived. He looks like he’s up to mischief with those cheeks all puffed out with corn kernels. You can figure the expression “squirreling away” comes from this time of year. The squirrels are scampering to and fro carrying corncobs and nuts and they’re fast and furiously digging holes in my backyard, not that it hurts the lawn. If you try to shoo them away they look at you and go right on digging. The squirrels haven’t put on any weight yet but give them time. They are too busy hustling for nuts and I’ve walked under several trees in the past week and have narrowly missed the kerplunk of a wayward acorn.

Speaking of gathering … I have accumulated my own stash, i.e. 300 miles in my walking efforts for 2013 as of today. I topped the 300 mark by walking a whopping five miles today. Just a few more days to best my car mileage but the weather promises to be perfect most of the week. As to my blog, I’ve not been woolgathering there, because today I made my 150th post since I began blogging in February.

A friend circulated an e-mail a few years about a chipmunk gathering nuts. It was an excerpt from The Discovery Channel. If you have the time, it is definitely worth clicking on this link. It will make you smile at this industrious little fellow and the pickpocket who tries to steal from his cache of nuts. I looked on YouTube and sure enough this little video was there so I am happy to share it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5EZB3nSEl4