Oh, I know – Winter isn’t officially here until December. Nevertheless, it looks more and more like winter around here. There are still some leaves on the ground, but as I sat in our den this morning talking with my husband, I noticed that every tree that I could see was leafless. There is a certain beauty in their silhouettes against the gray sky. I have been very slow this year in putting things away that were on the porch all spring and summer. Every day I say, “Today I will pack up the cushions, take down the last of the plants, stack everything up and put it in the shed.” But I don’t. I’m not sure why, but I think it has to do with my reluctance to acknowledge the end of the porch season. Truly, it would only take me about half an hour to clean up. I could have done it today. I didn’t. I am usually very impatient with any lingering mess, in the house or out of the house. So I am enjoying watching myself from afar and learning to be patient with myself.

My little gazing globe, for example, pictured above, is usually packed away in the shed by now. But if I had packed it away, how would I have taken this photo with my new camera? You see, there’s a reason for my slow pace.

My wandering camera and I encountered these beautiful rose hips on the edge of our woods. They are on the wild rose bushes that surround our property and grow so freely everywhere. They look so lovely against the bare branches of the surrounding trees and bushes.

On another note, I feel increasingly high-tech. You’ll remember that I got a laptop in September, then I got my new camera for my birthday, and today we got new cell phones so that we can text message when necessary. What’s next??? I do remember a time when I went to a pay phone, put a dime in (or quarter) and made a call, when I went to the library to look up information that I routinely google now, and took photos with any number of low-tech cameras. It seems so distant now. It wasn’t that many years ago that I was on the faculty at Boston University and none of us had a computer in our offices. Very few of us (I certainly didn’t) had one at home. Those that did were considered wealthy and very high-tech. It is amazing how far we’ve come and how affordable these items have become. I’m grateful for all my toys but have to guard against being overly dependent on them. They are wonderful, but are no substitute for conversation, reading a book, knitting, quilting or any number of things.

That’s all for now. More later.