A real autumn!

Last year, autumn seemed over and gone in a matter of days. I felt like I totally missed it, or that maybe we didn't really have a summer, just one really long fall. The leaves barely had time to change before they were ripped from their branches by high winds and almost constant rain.

This year is totally different. We actually had a summer! A couple of weeks where the heat made it up to the 80s! And then it cooled down a bit from there, occasional rain, but still pretty nice until the last month or so.

Then the leaves turned gold. I kid you not. The road to our house swoops down and is surrounded on all sides by thick trees. When the sun shone through that tunnel, it was like driving through a tunnel made of gold. No wonder people have been stopping in the middle of the road to take pictures! I wanted to myself, but never had my camera on those pretty days.

We did take our camera with us when we hiked alongside Lake Eklutna last week. The dogs came with us and we hiked a total of six miles and had a small picnic next to the lake out of the wind. There were golden trees everywhere along the path and all up and down the hills.

I will post some pictures as soon as I can. We have a new camera and I have to figure out how to use it!

So the fall has lasted about a month and the weather has been delightful. Yes, rainy on occasion, but not too cold or warm, perfect for getting out and about.

Until this morning, that is.

Last night, the rain woke us up, it pounded the roof so hard. This morning, when I went out to my car to go teach at the club, I noticed the lacy patterns of frost on the top of it. Not white or thick, but definitely a bit icy. As I drove, I looked at the mountains. Earlier there had been a small dusting of snow at the very peaks. Now snow covers most of the mountains.

So I guess the winter is just about here. My feet are cold and I've got the heat cranked up. My cat Asuka is lying in front of the flames, toasting her tummy. (We're on natural gas, but the stove looks like a wood stove. Fake wood with dancing flames rising from them. I love it. It's the next best thing to a real wood stove.)

In other news, I've been trying to record my Group Centergy class so that I can mail it in for my evaluation for certification. I've tried three times and my camera keeps shutting off before the end of the class. I finally figured that the memory card is too full for an hour video, so I went and bought another one. So now I have to figure out when I can record it because I have to mail it before my next Centergy class.

My marital arts class began last week and I'm loving every second of it. I've got about 10 people in the class, some of whom are interested in getting ranked, so I may be on my way to my own dojo very soon. I hope the popularity picks up so I can add some more classes and eventually quit working at Sports Authority. This schedule is gonna be the death of me. I had to drop out of "Carousel" and I couldn't even audition for "Babes in Toyland." I'm extremely bummed about that.

And just in case I don't get to call my bestest buddy in the whole wide world, I want to let her know that I hope she has the most fantastic birthday ever known to human existence tomorrow. I wuv you!

I can hear the wind blowing outside. I don't think the leaves are gonna stay on the trees much longer. Sigh.

Happy Autumn Equinox!