LIttle bits of fall

I have the window open this morning. I can hear my finches at the feeder...and I can hear geese overhead. I love to hear those sounds, and it is easy for me to make the normal associations that go with each...the finches that in summer flock to the redbud tree in the front yard where their feeder is hung....that IS summer. How much longer, I wonder, will their bright yellow and muted reds be here? And now...the geese that I hear every morning...honking to me that fall is here. I love that sound, too. I count them, you know...anytime I see geese flying overhead, I count them. My children and I have always done that...we count to see if there is an even number... geese mate for life, and if there is an even number, why then of course, that means none of them are without a mate. I know...it could mean 2 of them are without mates, which would also leave an even number, but I prefer it my way, thank you very much. It is heartwarming to get an even number when I count. Often, I do not...and that twinges my heart just a bit. Odd?......what can I say. It's what I do.
I look out and see the beginnings of color on the tips of the leaves....and hope, hope, hope they turn to bright, vivid yellows and oranges and reds....hope that they turn color before they turn loose! Those vibrant colors against the bright blue sky of fall are breath-taking.
I drive down the road and see the corn fields....where there used to be green, growing corn, now there are brown stalks, and I look to see if there are deer. I see the hay bales in the fields and in the barns. I look up in the trees that line the yard and see acorns hanging, waiting for squirrels to pluck them before they hit the ground. I see apples in baskets at the roadside stands...and I love to stop and visit when I am in my mountains. Pumpkins in stacks, piled high....and purple pansies with their faces up toward the sun. I see all this beauty and take deep breaths because I know...I know that fall is slipping in....these little bits of clues that pop up each day tell me. And I feel myself settling in, breathing more slowly, wrapping up in my knitted shawl I made just so I could....and I welcome this fall that is coming with the glory of color and bounty. I welcome the goodness of fall.