Yep, Autumn Is Here

On Monday, September 20 -- a mere 2 days before the first day of fall -- we hit triple digits again. I guess that is Mother Nature's way of reminding us who is in charge. The next day, our high only reached into the mid 80s. Then, on the second day of autumn, I stepped out for my morning walk just before 7:00 AM and was greeted with a temperature of 44 degrees, which is only 12 degrees above freezing.

That's a pretty good weather roller coaster.

Fallen acorns litter the streets, and they snap, crackle, and pop under my feet as I plod along on my morning walks. Our maintenance people will be quite busy for the next couple of months keeping the streets clean of fallen limbs, acorns, and leaves. It's a never-ending job for them.

And speaking of our maintenance people, one stopped in a few days ago to work on our garbage disposal. While David was here, we asked him about some snake rumors we had been hearing. Our next-door neighbor had told us a few days before about all the snakes that had been spotted in the neighborhood. David verified this, saying he had killed 25 rattlesnakes in recent weeks. He had also been bitten once, and showed us the fang marks still visible on his lower leg. With the nights cooling, those rascals have been seeking warm places to spend the nights, and some have been creeping into garages. 

We took another walk out of the neighborhood a few days ago. It had probably been at least 2 or more years since we had walked on the O.C. Fisher dam, so we decided to visit it again for an early morning walk. It's really a pleasant place to walk because it is level and there is no traffic. But it is also exposed to weather since it is void of trees and brush. We enjoyed the lovely sunrise that morning, and we saw numerous deer. Hard to go wrong when you get to experience those things.

Sunrise over San Angelo. You can see our small collection of downtown buildings along the right horizon.

We used to walk quite frequently at the dam. It's only a 2 or 3 mile drive from our house. The entire length of the dam is about 7 miles, so you can rack up some mileage there if you want. But for every mile you walk out, that is one mile you have to walk back in. The 360 degree views are quite nice. 

We spotted these pretty girls at the base of the dam on our way back in.

Donna went fishing with two friends a couple of days ago. They didn't have many bites, but they seemed to enjoy being outside and visiting. It's a good way to pass the time. 

Our COVID numbers do seem to be improving, but we still have a long way to go. Numbers will drop over a few days, then jump up briefly for a day or two. Overall, there is improvement. Hospital numbers are steadily dropping, but deaths from COVID are holding steady. Almost all deaths are from unvaccinated folks. There are a few deaths from vaccinated folks, but these are almost exclusively among folks in their 60s or older.

We continue to await approval of booster shots for the Moderna vaccine. We'll feel better about things once we get that behind us. We get flu shots next week.

As always, stay safe out there, and get out and enjoy this fall weather. It only comes around once a year, you know.