You won’t hear a soul complaining about it either.

I hustled out of the house as soon as it was light to get in two laps at the Park to add another five miles toward my goal. I chitchatted with the woman on Pagel Street who was sitting on her porch all bundled up in a big comforter, but still enjoying the coolish, but pretty, morning. Council Point Park sure was crowded, mostly with walkers, but a few joggers as well. It seemed that everyone was gaily waving to one another and crowing about the beautiful day. The dew was heavy on the grass and the sun illuminated the water droplets that speckled many of the colorful leaves as well. I snapped several pictures of smaller memorial trees which were already tinged with red or gold and those trees were looking very festive for Fall, belying the warm temps and Summer-like feel.

On the first lap, I scattered a few peanuts for the squirrels and they came running right away and then were sniffing for more. Meanwhile, an angry Blue Jay screeched down at me to leave a few for him as well. So, with my eye focused on the tree where he perched and was creating all the mayhem, I tossed a handful of peanuts nearby just for him. In record time, he swooped down to retrieve his prize. Jays are such large and beautiful birds that I never fail to be amazed at their beauty. I didn’t see or hear the woodpecker today – perhaps he has graduated to a taller tree or is spending the day with his mother learning more tips and tricks on how to be a woodpecker.

As I progressed along the trail, I rounded a bend and saw a huge Woolly Bear caterpillar slowly inching its way across my path. I stopped and looked at it, trying to recall what the configuration of his brown and black stripes meant regarding the Winter ahead. I took a picture but he was close to some dense brush so it probably won’t come out clearly. While I was checking out that fuzzy caterpillar, a fellow walker came along and was watching me take the picture so I explained the folklore surrounding this furry little guy. She hadn’t heard that story before, so as we walked along and chatted amiably, I shared some of the other weather folklore that is associated with nature. I found out that Ann Marie also enjoys walking the Park trail and has an affinity for birds, just like me – she has an African Grey parrot, so of course we had to trade stories about our pet birds.

The end of the trail was near and I reluctantly departed from the Park and walked most of the way home with Ann Marie who lives only a few streets away from me. When I checked my e-mail later on I found some gorgeous pictures of two hummingbirds that had arrived at my next-door neighbor Marge’s feeder. She snapped their photos up close, while their tiny wings were whirring fast, and their long beaks were sipping the sweet nectar in the red feeder.

I think Mother Nature took pity on us for our less-than-ideal Winter, Spring and even Summer, so she is re-inventing Fall to make up for those abysmal seasons and help to keep us just humming along.