From My Window

Recently, I entered the woods trail with Wolfgang before sunrise, but far enough into pre-dawn that I could see well enough to navigate safely. It was a chilly but windless day, and the birds weren’t active yet. The only sounds I heard were our feet on the trail, Wolfgang’s leash and collar tags, and a bit of free running water by Alice Creek, still flowing with a few open holes amongst the frozen-over stretches.

Temperatures took a nose dive this week in Central Wisconsin, with a chilly 34 degrees greeting me as I left on the dog walk Monday before dawn. It was the first time so far I needed gloves to stay comfortable. I have been busy all week doing the preparation for winter that I think of as “pulling in.” The process of seasonal changeover is complex, and you run into the “too soon/too late conundrum.”

I was looking at a recipe in the New York Times, and the introduction stated that the dish was a perfect way to start the “descent” into fall.

Well, the author can descend if he likes, but I am “ascending” into autumn, my favorite time of the year.

When I was little my dad used to take my siblings and I to Peshtigo Harbor often.  We went in summer to puddle around on the beach, and to play on the ice in the winter.  A VW beetle “may” have been used out on the ice to drag around a “snow pan” which “may” have had children on it.  (It was so much fun, of course now I shudder at how risky it was.)