OCTOBER DAYS

" I saw old autumn in the misty morn

stand shadowless like silence, 

listening to silence...."

       Thomas Hood (1799 - 1845}

These are the first words of Thomas Hood's beautiful poem depicting autumn. I first read it when I was sixteen and liked it so much that I copied it into one of my journals.

Many many years later - - when I was a reasonable facsimile of an adult - - I discovered an original hand written letter by Thomas Hood at an auction, and I was fortunate to obtain it.

Here in the misty Tennessee woods, I thought about it yesterday morning. October days are glorious.

I love this photo, which I took about nine years ago. This magnificent web was near the back porch one October morning. I never did see the spider.

This week marks my tenth year in Tennessee. I finally sold my Texas house. I packed up my three cats in my Toyota Corolla and we headed east. Kitzee was ten years old. Bosco and Scruffy were both six months. I was.....well, hell, I won't reveal my age.

Late one stormy night, I was driving through Arkansas. It was raining heavily and pitch black. I have night blindness and couldn't see a thing. I rode over a very steep embankment. With a resounding crash, the car was deep in mud. The cats were upside down in the back seat cages.

I crawled out into the mud, climbed up the embankment, and flagged down a motorist. A tow truck was called.

Cost me three hundred bucks to be towed. My humiliation was profound. I finally got to a motel and vowed I'd NEVER drive at night again.

The cats were all physically fine......but probably psychologically damaged.

Curious coincidence

I moved from California to the Missouri Ozarks in October. I moved from Missouri to Texas in October. I moved from Texas to Tennessee in October. It wasn't planned that way. It just happened.

Back to the present

The past few days have been beautiful. Sunny with cool temperatures. These intoxicating autumn days have resurrected a wealth of memories.

Unfortunately, recent winds have been stripping trees of leaves prematurely. Hopefully some of the foliage will remain to display the autumnal colors.

Nothing new to tell. Last Wedesday I ordered groceries from Walmart. I usually order early in the morning. This time I ordered at noon. Everything was delivered by 2:00.

Perfect, for a refreshing change.

I always feel sorry for the delivery drivers because it's difficult to find my house.

They need a compass, firearms, guide dogs, and nerves of steel.

Jon

Photos taken from the front porch

Entrance to the forest, a few yards from my bedroom

Views from the front "yard"

BTW

My next post is going to be unnervingly personal. I plan to have more confessions and reveal the raw sordid truth. Hell, why should I hide everything?

Thanks to your previous comments, I'm now confident that you won't abandon me....or consider a mercy killing.....