Summer has passed and Fall is coming soon. The trees in our neighborhood are beginning to change colors, not all of them, just some of them, but the rest will follow soon enough. We have a large white oak tree that’s producing acorns this year, along with its layers of leaves. For some reason, it produces acorns only every other year, but the squirrels seem to plan ahead.

Soon there will be thick carpets of leaves in front of the houses of most of our neighbors… except for the few without any deciduous trees. We will have to rake them into the street for the street cleaning machine that comes along later on to sweep them up… I believe they will be turned into mulch. Sometimes, we get a little snow a bit too early, before all of the leaves have fallen, and raking them into the street then is more difficult, since they are wet and stiff with the cold. Other times, we get a lot of rain, making the last, sodden leaves even more difficult to rake.

Before Halloween, there will be a parade for children to show off their costumes, with hot chocolate and cookies or doughnuts. We have similar gatherings for other holidays, the Fourth of July, something for Christmas. And on the Saturday before Christmas, my partner, Paul, and his brass quintet play standard Christmas carols beneath the street lights along a few of the outer streets. Paul’s quintet has some classical pieces in their repertoire, too, but they could probably use a few tunes for Channukah and for the Solstice. They cannot get to all of the streets in our neighborhood, since the weather is often cold, and brass instruments become especially cold to play after an hour or two on a cold or snowy evening.

Afterwards, we retire to a neighbor’s home for my home-made soup, her salad, and lasagna that I bought frozen and baked while the soup was simmering. Someone usually brings cookies.

I have hot apple cider on the stove now, many varieties of tea, and I could make a pot of coffee, too. Would you prefer a bagel or an English Muffin? Cream cheese or marmalade and butter? If you’d rather have a couple of poached eggs, I’m a great hand at those… without using vinegar.