I miss fall, a good Pacific Northwest fall, and its steep drop to cooler evening temps and crisp mornings. In South Georgia for my first fall, I’m nicknaming it “The Forever Summer.” Without prompting, Evelyn made up a song titled, “I Never Want to See the Sun Again.” Her ode was to colder, darker days and the desire for nightfall.
After picking out a variety bag of unshelled nuts and a six-hole bird feeder with perches at Home Depot, I bounded to the third rung of the precariously balanced ladder. In a nodule where a branch once grew, I pressed the point of a screw and twisted. After four rotations I set my nut-filled feeder in place like a county fair kid contestant with their cat then sat on the porch to watch the blue ribbon birds roll in.
Or not.
Five hours in and not even a single bird’s sniffed its direction. To draw them in, I’ll need to either wait, or—what if—I open the Merlin bird-identifying app and pipe bird songs into the air? I’d like a cardinal, blue jay, mockingbird, and a few titmice to make a drop-in.
I’m hungry, imagining cooking fettuccine alfredo or lasagna as options, or taking the easy route and warming up leftover spaghetti.
Productivity around the house shot up twofold as Dave and I prepared for my parents’ arrival tomorrow. A little chaos pile in the pantry and in the garage got sorted, and—don’t think me weird—but I also took to vacuuming the garage floor. As I did, I had a desire for a job with Consumer Reports, one where I could test out various vacuums’ suction ability because the Shark I was using left a lot to be desired.
I’d hoped the sectional would have been here, but since it’s not, we’ll resort to the patio’s couch and rockers, and playing on the living room floor. There is one lounge chair either my dad or Paula could claim, or I could hit up a store in the morning, as their flight and car rental won’t have them here until 4 p.m. or so.
I need to remind Dave to put up the garage system bracket thing. Its numerous clip-on prongs hold our yard tools, which would get the pickaxe, shovel, rake, and weed eater off the ground and in one easy-to-find spot. Other than that, I think we’re good to go. The fridge is stocked, the guest bed is made, and Evelyn knows there’s “only one more sleep until Papa and Grandma are here!”
What a fun week it will be to have them here. I look forward to sharing all about it. I’ll see you tomorrow.
Love,
Jaclynn
Going On 40 