Feeling Dull

Walking in the dark, I can't see the dried leaves that crunch loudly under my feet. I am startled. When more leaves have fallen, every step will bring a crunch, but for now, it happens only once in a while. I imagine sleeping birds suddenly awake, alert against the intruder. Hey, that's me! I must sweep the walk and the driveway today. Or, I could simply wait for the promised rain to wet the leaves and thus make them not crunchy. If the rain arrives, that is.

In Sacramento, this is now the third longest rainless spell since records have been kept. The two longer dry spells were in 1903 and 1880. So, in Sacramento, at least, something of the Victorian age has been back for quite some time. I wonder what will be next?

Overcast

All day, things to say pop into my head. When I get a chance to write them down, they are not there. Harumph! Let's see... I remember it being overcast most of the afternoon, until the sun managed to burn through for about an hour, though it was never bright enough to make me sneeze. There were some faint, intermittent shadows, and those leaves on the oaks which have turned color glowed a pleasant, warm shade of gold. It does indeed smell very much like impending rain. Perhaps that was what had the birds excited. All afternoon, they chirped and squawked and screeched and twittered. They're probably tired of drinking water overflowing into the street from lawn sprinklers.

The peak of autumn color will probably arrive in a few days. I hope the rain (the rain allegedly on the way) is done with by then, though I wouldn't mind some scattered clouds hanging about. They make for more interesting pictures. Overcast is not good for pictures, though. It subdues the colors, and everything looks grey and monotonous. Less than two months left in the year. Time flies when you're having fits.