And the Days Grow Shorter

It’s the squirrels who are announcing the coming of Fall. Their behavior has a definite change right about now.

I have to watch my head as I walk under the hickory and oak trees in my front yard. They are up there harvesting nuts and acorns, probably stashing them away for winter. It’s duck and cover as you walk underneath and they toss down the parts they don’t want.

They race in pairs up and down the trees. It must be some sort of mating game, but they seem very serious about it as they go nose-to-tail up and down and sideways on the branches.

Squirrels have never been good at crossing streets. But somehow the onset of Fall emboldens them and they dart out never looking both ways. As the car approaches they must decide whether to continue or retreat, sometimes being frozen in the middle of the street for that instant of indecision.

I’ve never considered these wild things with their bushy tails to be the pests that many find them to be. Perhaps that’s because I haven’t had a real vegetable garden for many years. I’m sure they are probably the reason my 5 little tomato plants this year never produced a single tomato.

I’m glad the squirrels are the harbingers of Fall. Fall ranks right up there with Spring as my favorite season.