Goodbye to Warm Days

Today I was going to clean out the rain gutters, at least on the back of the house, but when I got the ladder out and propped against the eaves, well, I just didn't feel like climbing it. I'm not good with ladders to begin with, my sense of balance being pretty crappy, but I wasn't sure I had the thing set up properly. It's one of those aluminum things that extends, and the parts that are supposed to support the extended part didn't look quite right. I could have gotten the old wooden ladder out, but it is so old that it creaks when you step on it. My own creaking is quite enough, thanks.

So I ended up just raking some more leaves off of the back lawn and finally getting them stuffed into a wheelie bin so they won't get soaked again if it rains tomorrow. It is unlikely that it will, as the chances have been reduced from 20% to 10%, and that usually means rain fail rather than rainfall. It looks like nothing but clear, cool days ahead for at least the next week, and nights dipping down into the forties. Furnace season is here for sure. I hope I can save enough money for taxes and insurance with that machine running as frequently as it probably will be.

The final mild evening was pleasant, and the autumnal gloaming brought soft light and lavender clouds. I didn't even mind that I was sneezing from having tossed a bunch of dry leaves into the bin. Not much, anyway.