Before the last leaves fall

       

          It was my great pleasure this weekend to drive up to Traverse City and explore all the way along Mission Peninsula, to the 45th parallel (halfway to the north pole!).The colors were indescribably  beautiful. At times it felt like the landscape was ablaze and I was driving through the flames.
          But already some of the trees are spent, their branches almost bare, their colorful life scattered on the ground below. It reminds me that the countdown has begun. For some of you, that is the countdown to the first snowfall. For snowbirds like me, it's the countdown to Florida. We leave six weeks from today.
           That's six weeks to finish all the projects around the house that haven't gotten done over the summer. Time to get the church library in order for the winter months. Six weeks to make those final doctor visits, the last hair appointment. Time to make the rounds to visit the relatives and friends I won't get to see over the winter. I need to squeeze in my last visits to local theater,  file my final reviews for The Press. Six weeks to finish my pre-holiday book sales events and have my holiday celebrations with family in advance. Buy my Christmas gifts, address my cards.
           And time to pack, of course. To remember all the things I forgot last year and sort out all those items I took last year but never used. To clean out the fridge and prepare the house for winter.
            It sounds so overwhelming. But the leaves fall a few at a time and so the tasks that remain will fall. The countdown begins.