November 3, 2016
6:43 a.m.
Attila let me sleep until almost 6 a.m. this morning, so that my routines are offset by about an hour. It is dark outside, and impossible to tell what weather the day will bring. With my chair in its new position, I can watch the morning sky brighten.
Attila now leaves for work in the dark, but arrives home before darkness falls. There is psychological benefit to spending time at home in daylight hours. Yesterday afternoon when Attila arrived home from work there remained enough daylight that he could saw off a dead branch on the tree in the back yard, section it, and bundle it for the upcoming yard waste pickup. We don’t take wood removed from trees to the Rideau Camp, in case it harbours harmful insects, like the Emerald Ash Borer. I would prefer to burn it in situ, but there are bylaws in this town against burning on one’s property.
The fallen leaves are mulched by our lawn mower. When I was here by myself two autumns ago, I just mowed over the leaves and left them where they were. By the time the grass grew in the spring there was no sign of them. Attila gathers them as he mows them, in the bag at the back of the lawn mower, and into the compost pile they go. We have a compost pile for yard waste in a corner of the yard, and a black plastic compost bin for kitchen waste. Since we eat a lot of vegetables, the kitchen compost is almost full, and will soon need to be emptied. Perhaps we will need a second compost bin.
7:11 a.m.
I am sitting with my morning coffee, wondering why it is that I can’t regard things as disposable. With some exceptions, like fingernail clippings and used toilet paper, I feel everything is worth either keeping in case it will be useful, or giving away to someone who can use it. Not everyone feels this way.
The sky is still dark through the living room windows. Dawn won’t be long in coming now.
7:25 a.m.
I glanced up from this screen to find the faint silhouette of the branches discernable through my windows. I love trees. The day has arrived without fanfare.
9:15 a.m.
The rain is coming down slow and steady. The Tamarack needles have turned a bright yellow, though none have yet fallen.
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7:00 p.m.
The day slipped by without incident. I went for a walk during a break in the rain. I tried something new for my lunch, pressed cottage cheese and pineapple, dismal failure, ate it anyway. I collected the newspaper in its plastic bag from the end of the driveway. You get the drift, the smallness of my moments overwhelmed the day, as they do on all the best days.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
11°C
Date: 7:00 PM EDT Thursday 3 November 2016
Condition: Not observed
Pressure: 101.7 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 10.6°C
Dew point: 7.3°C
Humidity: 80%
Wind: NW 12 km/h
Quote
“Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.”
Pablo Picasso
1881 – 1973
