Gray

The dogwoods are growing redder each day, and a maple down the block is becoming colorful too. A few green blades of grass are appearing in my front lawn. A few more rains will eliminate all the brown from the lawn, erasing the last reminder of summer. But the lawn will soon be buried under a carpet of mulberry leaves. Quite a few have fallen already.

A persistent overcast has kept today cooler than expected, and tomorrow could be cooler still. I hope the overcast doesn't interfere with the four warm days that are expected to begin the week. I'm looking forward to those as a respite from the recent chill. There will be plenty of overcast days this winter, and I see no need for their monotony to begin plaguing me so soon.

More distressing are the cold nights. When the furnace is going, I always wake up with the inside of my mouth dried out, feeling like it was full of flannel. I must be snoring. Were I breathing through my nose, it would be dry instead. And I'm pretty sure I'm not eating persimmons in my sleep, which is the only other thing I know of that can make my mouth feel like flannel.

Speaking of eating, my shopping trip has been moved up to Saturday this week. That won't be an inconvenience, as it gives me all of a potentially warm and pleasant Sunday to myself, while Saturday is expected to be chilly. I can enjoy the supermarket's heat and save on my own.