Here it is Labor Day.  How did that happen?  Where did summer go?

The days are getting shorter :no: , while the nights are getting longer. 🙂   (I like the longer nights, because I don’t feel bad about sleeping late.  I’m going to do it anyway, but it helps when the sun is still low in the sky.)

I’d like to share a couple of observations from last week.  These are things that I saw here on this secondary road.  Do you know what this is?

Does this look like a map of the USA?

When I saw this picture I thought it looked like a map of the USA, with my foot “stepping in” for Florida.  That, however, is not what it is.  This is a watering hole that was made by the deer that inhabit our neighborhood.  You can almost see the hoof work in the upper right portion of the hole.  In person it was much clearer.  Over this summer the hole has grown larger and deeper.  They must be looking for water, but why in the middle of my front yard?

I’ve tried to refill this hole a couple of times.  It doesn’t work.  Any ideas?

I was returning to the house after retrieving the mail, when I noticed a problem on the leaves of one our maple trees.  I really like those trees–a lot.  So I was concerned and went over to look more closely and saw this:

What is wrong with this leaf?

It doesn’t look like a blight.  What would explain this discoloration?  Oh!  It was like the time I was learning to play ball.  We were throwing the ball back and forth.  As I watched, the ball kept getting bigger and bigger . . . and then it hit me.  Same thing happened here.  Astronomically, it’s still summer, but for we Michiganians summer is over after today.

Yes friends, it’s that time of year.  This tree is a bit earlier that most, but it won’t be long and there will be color, lots of color.  That’s okay.  I’m patient.  I will wait . . . patiently.  No hurry at all.  Okay?

After today, perhaps the cost of gasoline will come down.  As August ended, Michigan was in the news for being in the top five states for gas prices.  Why am I not proud of that?

Are you feeling a little bit “fallish?”  What are your favorite autumn activities?