autumn morning

I am up early this morning and it's dark outside, prompting reflections about this time of year in this part of the world. October is generally a time when everything seems to decline--the length of the daylight hours, the temperature, and my mood. But this year is different; only the daylight is slipping away. It remains warm outside, and I dwell within an artificially lit, thermostatically controlled environment, happily overpreparing for a holiday that is over two months away. Perhaps "gearing up" at this time of year is unnatural, but it feels healthy, even beneficial. At any rate, I wake to discover October is two-thirds over before I've even remembered to dread its snake-hiss changeability and the inevitably barren landscape at its end.

And all from hours of unwrapping ornaments apparently constructed from plastic and spit!