Brrrrrr.  The house was cold when I awoke, so once again I questioned the wisdom of my having the whole-house insulation job to keep this home warmer in Winter.  It was only 72 degrees inside all day yesterday and my fingers were so cold I had a hard time typing. This morning, the thermostat read 70 degrees and it was 20 degrees colder outside. Maybe it will make an impact when the furnace is cranking out the heat come Winter? Hopefully so.

I resisted the urge to turn on the heat this morning, and, I know that if I still had Buddy, that furnace would have been on in August already, a new first in the Schaub household. My boss is at the family cabin in Georgian Bay, Canada and when he called me last night, he said he didn’t go swimming, but instead chopped a lot of wood that afternoon and they were huddled around the fireplace to keep warm.

For my walk on this first day of the long holiday weekend, I added a tee-shirt and jacket as I figured the sweat suit wasn’t warm enough – good thing because it was quite breezy down at Council Point Park and just warming up a tad as I left there.   I also wore gloves because I hate when my hands feel numb, especially if I’m using the camera, or if I’m trying to open the bag of peanuts to feed the squirrels, who are always impatient as they wait for me to open that Ziploc bag and dole out their treats to them.  “Mind your manners” I want to tell them sometimes.

A few flocks of geese were overhead and descended onto the grassy areas of the Park, just like yesterday, but today they kept to themselves, grazing in the soccer fields far away from the walking trails.  I wanted to get a picture of the geese flying in V-formation, but this was the best I could come up with.  I think this flock of geese needs a choreographer or should return to flying school as they were all over the map as you see in the above picture.

After leaving Council Point Park, the sun was stronger and it felt good so I took off my jacket.  It was such a pretty day and I hated to go home, especially as I knew some household chores awaited me, so I lollygagged a little.  I walked along River Drive all the way to Lions Park and went around that Park’s perimeter path.  It was desolate there with no humans or critters, and, after I left I walked home via Emmons Boulevard.

There was even more harvest decor since I walked along that street Wednesday when it was so foggy.  More mums have appeared in porch pots and are decorating stair steps in many homes along the Boulevard.  There were Autumn-type wreaths and yard flags.  All this harvest decor is no doubt inspired by these chilly temps and the fact that coffee houses like Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts began featuring their Fall pumpkin spice hot drinks yesterday.

The first Halloween decorations are up as well.  I know this particular homeowner usually puts out his spooky decor early, so I purposely looked for it today.

The smell of breakfast wafted through an open window and I may even have detected biscuits as well.  The aroma sure made me hungry and I began hankering for breakfast from Kate’s Kitchen.  My mom and I went there often when we visited a country store called “The Grape Vine” and, though the lines were long, it was worth the wait.  The fresh biscuits and gravy and their omelets and hash browns were a favorite treat for me.

After all that walking, I started to wind down a few blocks before home, and took a rest by chatting with our mail carrier Jenny.  I’ve mentioned before that Jenny’s route is eleven miles and I often tell her I marvel at that daily distance she walks, in the heat and humidity, or the ice and snow in the dead of Winter.  She always smiles when I tell her that.  I told Jenny that today I felt like I had pounded eleven miles of pavement myself, but it was likely only about six. When I got home, I checked the pedometer, and, as you see below, it was nearly 5 1/2 miles.

That long walk made me hungry and yearning for a warm drink, so I sure was grateful to wrap my fingers around a warm cup of coffee, all the while wishing I was sipping a foamy pumpkin spice latte.  A sandwich and a yogurt had to suffice for food, a far cry from the tasty fare at the kitchen table on Emmons Boulevard