STRANGE DAYS

The days linger like the far side of a  half-remembered dream.

Thanks to the recent rude change of the clocks, daylight is minimal - rushing impatiently to a premature dusk.
The forest trees - even with rapidly dwindling leaves - manage to eclipse most of the sunlight. 

The autumn chill has vanished, replaced with a near-tropical warmth and an insolent wind that reminds me of my suffocating days in West Texas.

A feeble, delicate amber light haunts the apathetic afternoons, accompanied by sporadic showers of dead or dying leaves. The strange rotation of earth on its axis yields a surrealistic pallor on this rustic autumnal environment.

Jon, you're damn good even when you don't try
(sorry - I couldn't resist....)

And then the beetles descended from seemingly nowhere. It happens every year at around this time. They resemble lady bugs but they're brown and extremely aggressive. Thousands and thousands of them.

The air is thick with them and they cover the ground. They climb the porch rails and congregate on the eaves. They crowd on window ledges and scale the screens.
They cling to my hair and hide in my clothes. I find them on blankets and bed covers.

Even with windows tightly closed, they manage to get in the house. Last night they were crawling on the kitchen table, the lamp, my laptop....

...and then they quickly die. In a week or so they will be gone.

 My bedroom window ledge last night. I had to remove the screen and clean everything - - but more of the beetles appeared there today.

I had to walk through the woods once more today, for what will probably be a last look at the glorious foliage. Rain is expected late tonight, with a fairly dismal week ahead.

 

 

I hope my autumn foliage photos aren't becoming tedious. Look at the bright side - at least you don't have to trek through the mud and bugs.