Topsie climbs the ladder

It's the beginning of the holiday season and Tinkerbelle had brought out the ladder to hang up the decorations.  Topsie, always the helpful one, pranced up and down and around the ladder, until she found herself on the top rung. Being that high up was scary she decided. Next time, she'll just stay on the ground!

Unexpected harvest

I inspected the fruit hoping it was something I could eat

We were strolling through the park today when we came upon an unexpected harvest. A pile of horse apples at the base of a tree. They lay in cluster upon the ground as though someone had carefully gathered them into a pile. Topsie and I eagerly sniffed and inspected the fruit hoping it was something edible. Alas, it was nothing we wanted to eat, so we headed home for dinner instead.

Horse apples lay on the ground

Falling leaves

It's fall and the trees are all wearing their vibrant fall coats. The leaves have started falling and lay piled up along the path where we take our daily walks. In a few weeks, they will have dried up and lost their pretty colors. But, for now, they lay in lush piles of vibrant colors occasionally drifting into swirling ribbons whenever the wind picks them up. It's quiet except for the sound of rustling as Topsie, Tinkerbelle and I shuffle through leaves on our afternoon walk.

A most unusual find

On our way home from our morning walk today, we almost trod upon this latest find.  A cluster of round mushrooms emerging from among the wood chips in the middle of the trail. "Come see these" I called to Tinkerbelle. We all gathered round to examine the small round fruitbodies.  Most likely a type of puffball, these were light brown on the outside and white on the inside with a spongy texture. A most unusual find, we all agreed.

The geese arrive

Every fall around the same time, the Canadian geese arrive at the pond.  They showed up today in the usual fashion, honking loudly in the air to announce their arrival. But this year was different in a couple of ways. The geese arrived later than usual as previous years have seen them arrive as early as September. They also usually arrive in a larger gaggle of thirteen or fourteen.  This year it was just two.  It's possible that these two are the same two that always stop by the pond in the spring on their journey back North often staying long enough to build a nest. Regardless of their number, the geese are never shy or modest about making themselves at home at the pond.  The ducks react predictably by fleeing to the far edges to sulk at the arrival of the perennial guests. It's the same every year. As we watched the pair helping themselves to breakfast that someone had left, we couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the rest of the flock.