first day of fall

What a gorgeous day! Could it be more beautiful? I don't think so. Simply stunning. You can't ignore it. That inner voice shouts "go out! go out!"

And we do,  but not right away. Fall mornings here are cool. And this first day of fall is no different. Breakfast in the kitchen.






This corner of the porch always gives me a seasonal bit of beauty: lilacs in the spring, lilies in the summer. Today, there's that last burst of lilies, lots of golden coneflowers, and of course, the purple aster sprigs.






The cats love the warm sunshine!

(Little Gray is nursing, Dark Blue Tulip is snuggling...)






(Dark Blue Tulip wants a turn! Yo-Yo -- the newly named little guy -- comes in as well. Dance is a true milk machine. But she also teaches calm and sharing to all the cats here. She's a fantastic matriarch!)






Purple and gold: it defines the Big Bed now...






(the occasional reblooming lily)






(Dark Blue Tulip and Tomato: cats and cheepers get along very well...)






(Happy wonders if he could ever climb the lilac in the way that the cats do...)






Ed asks if I'm up for biking to the disc golf course for several throws of the old frisbees. You cannot say no: it's an outdoor day. A soak in all that wonderful sunshine day. A retired person's dream day.

(Quick lunch afterwards...)





And in the afternoon, I pick up Snowdrop.

I suggest a walk to the coffee shop and playground.

Oh, yes! Definitely!

At the coffee shop, she asks about something that's been bothering her since our reading of the third Beverly Cleary Ramona book. Remember, this is a series from the 1950s and in this particular book, Ramona has a first grade teacher who is prissy and staid, even by the standards of that era. The teacher has a favorite little come back for students who complain about the behavior of a classmate. "No one likes a tattle-tale!" -- she repeats again and again.

It strikes me that this was a big thing in the decade when we were blind to the problem of bullies, of sexually inappropriate touching, even of stranger dangers.

And so we spend a good while sorting through what Ramona's teacher may not have wanted to hear and what definitely calls for teacher notification. Now if I can only find a good explanation for why bologna sandwiches have gone out of favor in school lunches and why most moms these days do not stay home and bake chocolate chip cookies while their kids are at school...

We walk to the playground energized by the brilliance of the day!






We spend time on the structure, and of course, she swings with wild abandon...






But today, she also wants to go to the beach. And into the water...


(time to tie up those skirts...)






(no, Snowdrop, you cannot go swimming!)






She gets wet. Of course she does! And who cares -- it's the first day of Fall!






Eventually I figure out a way to get her home, wet clothes and all.

We read more of Ramona, we play.

And in the late evening, Ed and I sit at the picnic table and watch the cats do their own evening dance. Cats, like people, know when the going is good, when the weather is golden. Perhaps they suspect that the cold season is just around the corner. Play now, play hard! And they do... Yes they do...