The mornings are definitely cooler nowadays. Our walks include wearing a hooded sweatshirt. It’s brisk out there!

On today’s walk, we kept hearing (and seeing) acorns drop to the ground, black walnuts falling from trees, bird skirmishes up in the branches, and squirrels running up and down the trunks.

Speaking of noticing things, when I mowed the back forty last week, I stood for a moment on the edge of our property that borders our neighbor’s property and looked at the trees that abut that huge grassy field I showed you the other day. I noticed – for the first time – that we have two catalpas there. I guess I had to be standing in just the right place to identify them, as it’s on a slight hill. That makes at least 6 catalpa trees on the property. Since they’re one of my favorite trees, this discovery made me happy.

It’s 9:53 am and I haven’t turned my phone on. This is part of my new attempt to not have it on, and therefore, tempting me, for most of the day. I want to read more and look at the phone (and my laptop) less. I read a post by a young woman who I follow on my other Instagram account, which is for books and reading. She may be only 29, but she is very wise. She also felt that her attention was too often being diverted to her phone and iPad/laptop. It all came to a head when the Wi-Fi in her apartment kept failing. She didn’t have it for about 3 weeks. During that time, she read far more than she had been and she liked it. Eventually, she made the decision to have no Wi-Fi.

Now, I can’t do that, because I write this blog and do other things that necessitate having Wi-Fi. But, I can severely limit my time online. I’ve written about this before and it can be a struggle for me. But both Don and I are of the same mind on this one. I’m going to work hard to turn my computer off after I write this post and check back in later in the day. Likewise, I’ll do my usual Instagram check-in and then turn the phone off. If there’s a phone call/message, I’ll know soon enough. And we still have a landline, so there’s that.

We’ll see how it goes.

I’m reading John Connolly’s latest, The Book of Bones, which is 694 pages long. Interestingly, I had just ordered 3 books from the library when I picked up this book to read. Those books are going to come in this week and I will still be immersed in this almost 700 page long book. A quality problem, but a problem, nonetheless. I couldn’t help it, the Connolly is what I was in the mood for.  I’m a bit less than a quarter of the way through it.

We’re off on our weekly visit to the grocery store.

Don had a good day at the Farmers Market. His photos are wonderful.

Happy Monday.