The first real autumn morning.  No ceiling fans required. The prognosticators promised a low in the 50’s and they were blessed in their foretelling. The flock of whistling ducks grows larger by the day as it circles my house as the sky brightens. This morning it’s the cardinals chirping all around the yard  that starts the morning. A solitary crow caws across the unclouded sky. And at 7 am the hummingbirds start to stir.

The wavering, mournful call of my local owl wafts out of the woods as he settles in for his days rest. And a dozen whistling ducks fly over again.

A train whistle cuts through the ruckus the neighborhood gang of crows is raising. Steel wheels rumble and roar on distant steel rails as a freight train rumbles through town.

The day still awaits the sun. That glow on the eastern horizon just a hint of what the days has in store.

One thing that’s been missing here for a number of years are the cottontails that used to be seen mornings and evenings in the yard. It’s been a long time…

The sun is starting to light up the tops of the trees…

As the sun clears the eastern treeline, I hear the approach of the garbage pickup… the banging of bins as they are heaved into the back of the truck to be emptied. This will be the last time these bins are hauled out to the road. Sometime today or tomorrow someone will come by and pick up the empty bins. This marks the changing of guard for the garbage collection company. The new schedule for the new company has me hauling the new bins to the road for Thursday pickup. I wonder what time of the day we are scheduled?

Y’all stay safe, stay healthy, and Pray for our Nation and the world.