The Last Winds of September Fade Into October’s Cold

Knoxville traffic was as expected, coming and going- a nightmare.
Badger noticed, and I’ve been noticing for a while now, that Cowboy will either speed up to get ahead of semis and switch lanes, or fall far behind them.
I suspect that at some point he’s nearly gone under one, or drifted too far into their lane.

The Great Escape: Spicy Tortie Defies Capture

I called to confirm Badger's appointment for tomorrow, they confirmed it.
About three to four hours later, the office called me back. 
They had scheduled her ultrasound at UT Hospital.
But the office visit was twenty minutes and eleven miles in the opposite direction.

Coffee and Quiet ☕🤫

Cowboy got home from work at 5 a.m., after a 14–15-hour shift.
When he woke up, he said the fog had been so heavy he’d gotten lost on the way home.
That's worrisome; I worry about him not being able to see well, and making that drive so late at night and early in the morning.
If he takes the river road, which he usually does, I’m always afraid he'll drive off into the river.

The Long Yawn of a Rain-kissed Day

We woke to an unexpected storm, one that even caught the meteorologist off guard.
Thunder rolled through most of the morning.

I almost feel lost without taking Turtle out to potty.
Lady and Duffy just curl up with Badger and snooze until she stirs.

Checked off ‘flying’ from the bucket list!

Today felt anxious, with worry about a son traveling and a cousin having surgery.

Rain and pumpkin spice, autumn wakes softly

We woke up to rain again this morning.
Luckily, it stopped long enough for Turtle to do her morning business.
We’d barely gotten back inside when it began to rain hard.
It stopped again before we headed out to town.

Wrapped in rain and quiet, the night folds itself around me like a lullaby.

I sent Peacock a text, letting him know we’d just keep his dog until Friday or Saturday. 
After all, if she’s been here this long, she may as well finish out the week. 
He didn’t seem to mind. 
I have to admit, Turtle takes up a lot of space, even more than Lady.

Excuse me, can you wake up? I would like to go outside

Turtle is still with us-Peacock had car trouble.
She’s still doing her best to nudge me out of bed and out the door by 5 a.m.
We’ve come to an agreement: 6:30 is better, and her pea-sized bladder can hold out until 7:30, when it’s fully light outside.

“See it, smell it, taste, it, and forget the time of day or year. Autumn needs no clock or calendar,”

I'm taking a wild guess and saying that Peacock wakes up at 5 AM, maybe goes to work at 6-6:30 AM. Every single morning we've had Turtle 🐶, she's woken me up at 5 AM. 
I glare at her, ignore her until 6:30 AM while she lays there looking pitiful. 
At 6:30, we move to the living room, where she paces and paces and looks longingly at the door. 
I tell her she may as well cool her jets-I'm not going outside until the sun comes up.

Autumnal Equinox

 

Goodbye to Summer, Goodbye to Long Warm Days-Autumn Comes on Wings of Gold as Short, Dark Days Unfold

Summer ended with a roar.
A storm swept in.
The wind howled, the rain poured down in buckets.
Thunder boomed, and lightning lit up the sky.

The Greatest Attraction Under the Smokies!

Today was Celebrate Badger’s Birthday. 
Think of it this way: her due date was 9/25, so we’re just celebrating closer to when she was supposed to arrive. 
It’s not my fault she showed up early, and I’ll stand by that. 
Her actual birthday is 9/11, but sometimes we celebrate a little later than the date.

Dogs are like chips, you can’t have just one

I'd been up maybe two hours, proofreading on the computer.
That kind of close-up work always messes with my head and eyes.
We’ve got an air freshener going because Smudge’s recovery pen smells, but the spray makes me feel off too.

In 525,600 minutes - how do you measure a year in the life?

Another town day has come and gone.
I think I measure the year in town days.
A year has 52 Thursdays, if you’re wondering.

No AI needed—just me, my words, and backspace power. 💻

Obviously, the blog has been up and down, like a jack-in-the-box. 
I started reading through the whole thing and realized something: dang, it sounds like Yoda and R2D2 are having a conversation.

Taco cravings: activated

Badger had planned to pick up Taco Bell after therapy, but her appointment was canceled at the last minute. 
Since everything was still frozen, there were no ingredients available to make dinner.

New week, same me, same coffee. ☕️ #MondayMood

It's Monday, what is there to write about on Monday?

I write to keep up with my days. 
I have a problem keeping up with days.

Quiet hours, happy soul

Today was Homecoming at Cowboy’s church.
I expected him to be gone most of the day; he usually stays late for events like this.
But he was back by 1 p.m.
I’m guessing he left before the meal or just didn’t eat much.

Stuck in Kudzu Country, Dreaming of Lei Country

Badger and I headed over to the school this morning.
We thought the yard sale would be in the little gym or maybe the cafeteria, but instead it was set up in the big gym.
That meant a longer walk than we expected and more traffic than we cared to deal with.

Our Little Friday: Hardware Happenings, Painted Windmill, and the Fig That Thought It Was Audrey II

We started the morning in the aisles of Lowe’s.
Cowboy bought a trimmer, which raised both mine and Badger’s eyebrows.
Cowboy is famous for never buying himself anything.
Then he ambled over to the mailbox aisle and bought one heck of a gigantic mailbox.
He didn’t even look at the cost.

Weeping May Endure for a Night, But Joy Comes in the Morning: Remembering 9/11 and 23 Years of Life

Badger turned 23 today.
We’re not big on birthdays, and with Badger’s autism, parties aren’t really her thing anyway.

"Patriot Day: Remembering the Lives Lost, Honoring the Heroes of 9/11"

 

♥♥♫♪ Happy Birthday to you ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥¸ ¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Happy Birthday to you ♪♫•*¨*

Dental drama done,groggy crate party in progress. 😹🛋️🦷

We had a little extra time this morning, so we went to the M. Walmart.

For Badger’s birthday dinner she picked Firehouse Subs and a drink from Dutch Bros.
 She always skips the coffee and goes for one of their fruit drinks.

Taking care of my fur baby's health 🐾 🐈‍⬛🩺

Smudge’s vet visit was this morning.
Not surprisingly, her stomatitis was acting up again-cats with feline leukemia often have recurring oral inflammation.

Marriage: The Cranky Edition

I was up at 7:15 a.m. 
Nothing unusual for me, but Badger was up too.
That made me raise an eyebrow. 
She came into the living room, told me to take my pill early, and then slipped back into her hobbit hole.

The geese’s flight sings the first notes of autumn.

Badger woke up, saw Cowboy off to morning service, grabbed a paintbrush and a couple cans of paint, and got to work. 
She painted from 11 a.m. until well after dark, and I mean well after dark.

Rainy Saturday vibes: warm, cozy, bored 🌧️☕️

This was a rainy Saturday; it didn’t let up until late this afternoon. 
Cowboy went to his sister Dos’s house to help her out and didn’t get back until late. 
That left Badger and me stuck at home.

"Ah, the hazy world of morning fog — where everything feels like a dream

At 8:30 this morning, Badger and I were on the road, chasing fog.
We woke up to heavy fog, and she wanted pictures of the fog on the river-it’s about a mile there, a mile back.
By the time we got out there, the fog had lifted.
But she got a good picture of a hawk taking a bath in the Methodist Creek.

Stack them high, read them all 📖

On the way to the store, Cowboy told me he’d been talking to Van Gogh last weekend-Saturday, I think.
Turns out Van Gogh was just pet-sitting Barky for his uncle.
Thank goodness for that. 
That dog never stopped barking.
I'm glad he wasn't a permanent resident.

Through a Forest, Blindly

There’s absolutely nothing to write about today, except that it was a rough one.
Autism isn’t always easy. ADHD isn’t either.
Put two people with two different neurodiversities in the same house, and sometimes sparks fly.

That feeling when the sun sets a little earlier, and you feel summer slipping out of reach

I always say I write to keep up with the days-it's Tuesday, I think.
Cowboy working Sunday really threw me off track, but I'm at least partially sure it’s Tuesday.

I don’t really have anything to write.
Today was just another day.

September walks past my window, and the wind whispers in the voices of old men and dry leaves

Today is Labor Day, the start of meteorological fall.
Already, the evenings feel shorter -the sun lingers less, and dusk comes earlier.
September is that golden month, not yet cold, but with the blazing heat of summer slowly fading.
Every year I notice the change: shorter days, cooler mornings, school routines returning, and the remembrance of 9/11.

With respect and honor for those whose daily labor shapes the life of our communities.