Autumn

Happy first day of Astronomical Autumn for those of you who follow that calendar!   Well, in the middle of the night tonight, that is.

What better way to observe the change of season to finally spy the first harbinger of Fall in my back yard.

Yep, a long awaited Spider Lily has made its appearance.  I was beginning to get worried that I wouldn't see any this year because of how dry it's been, so spotting one has been a huge relief...no, not a relief, that's not quite the right word.  Whatever, I'm just happy to see it.  

Pretty much the entire state is under drought conditions now, except for a few counties right up on the northern border.  Down South, they are at the severest level -- which I think is extreme drought.  My county isn't quite that bad, but we are still in a drought.

 With that in mind, my chief task today was to drive up to Lowe's in Batesville to get a new garden hose, though I really didn't want to go up there two Fridays in a row.  But my deer need to drink, and the local Walmart was completely out, so after a leisurely cup of coffee, I got dressed and headed up North.  

When I got to Batesville, on a whim, I whizzed into Walmart to go ahead and do my weekly shopping, since it was right there anyway and I didn't have anything on my list that needed to be kept cold.  I went into their garden center, just in case, and wonder of wonders, they still had hoses left! 

Cool!  One less stop to make.  

Garden hose and other necessities safely tucked away in the trunk of my car, I drove back up to the Mounds and found something I'd completely missed the first time.  And what was that, you may ask?

It's this, I'll answer.  On the back of the two signs at the front of the park, there is more information!  One details some of the artifacts they'd found on the site. 

The other one talks a bit about the people who built the mounds. 

I can't believe the first time I was there, I didn't even think to look on the backs of the signs. 

Anyway, I walked around the park and spun a few Pokestops, but didn't go on the path through the woods this time.  I was already tired and just didn't feel like it.  Then, when I left the park, I drove down to the square in downtown Batesville, and spun a few more Pokestops.  There were several on and around their town square, but again, I was tired and didn't feel like doing all that walking.  Still, I got enough to give my friends a variety of postcards.  I know my friend Susie says she appreciates all the ones I send, but I get tired of sending the same ones over and over again.  Alas, when you live in a small town, sometimes that's all you can do. 

Even with all of the running I did, I was home by noon, so after a quick lunch, I got out and cleaned and refilled the water trough. 

The wild critters again have fresh, clean water to drink.  The whole time I was working, I had a couple of inspectors making sure I did a good job. 

Do you see them?  Here, maybe this will help:

They came out to drink almost as soon as I got back up to the house. 

In other news, I'd said I wasn't going to plant anything in my flower bed, but when I saw these Mums, I couldn't resist them.

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to put them into pots or directly into the ground in my front flower bed.  I'll be sure to let you know which one I choose.  

And finally, just for fun, I managed to capture a hummingbird while I was putting the Mums onto the front porch.   In a photo, I mean. I didn't catch him with my hand.    

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm watching an adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry V on Prime.  It's been in my watchlist for a while, and I am finally getting around to it. 

Which reminds me of a time in high school when we were able to buy tickets to go see MacBeth.  Most students went just to get out of class, but I'm the dork who actually wanted to see the play.  Unfortunately, the former were so wild that we, the latter, were unable to see or hear anything.

Not unsurprisingly, we were never invited back.