A Fall Ramble

I suppose there is no use fighting the reality of the coming winter now.

Vermont peak foliage arrived and with it, the tidal wave of tourists all posed with cameras and iphones to imortalize every leafy moment for all their friends on FB or Twitter. 

You couldn't swing a chicken without hitting a iphone trigger happy leaf peeper this fall. 

But, I do admit, that it was a stunning display this year because of the wonderfully balmy days and cold frosty nights which is the magic recipe for incredible leafy colors.

Even I, the cynical vermonter, (seen one cow, ya seen em all)  had to pull over one morning on the way to Nika's school to take the above snap. 

"Oh Lord how manifold are Thy works!" was one apropos comment, when I, ahem, (don't judge) fed it to the social media monster FB.

Perhaps it is because of the feeling that these days are precious, since I can feel winter lurking just beyond the door; the feeling is sharp, actually now it's kinda focused in my lower back, after stacking up yet another cord of wood. We are shooting for at least seven or eight to get us through this time. Occasional back pain is nothing compared with the satisfaction I get from knowing that each log I stack will be another several hours of toasty heat. 

The kids, of course, take it all for granted. All's well as long as there is someone around to feed, clothe, entertain, and especially provide weekly gelato. Thank God it's a year-round joint. 

Little Lion boy after a week or so of snarling at his new lion tamers, has been subdued and is slowly becoming tame again. By this I mean I can now put him in his high chair with a plate of chopped up Lion feed and he will feed HIMSELF! Oh and drink by HIMSELF from a sippy cup. This is really BIG folks. 

Lil Lion's sessions may resemble a boot camp at times (YES, Speech Therapist, SIR!) but the results are worth it. 

Listening to him babble with real words is amazing. I mean we can even have a discussion with him now, and he is always interjecting his own astute observations into our daily conversations. It sometimes looks something like this: me to Justin: "So the tractor at work has a flat tire again..." 

(Leo) "Big Tractor?" 

"Yes Leo really big. Anyway I had to scramble to figure out what to do, you know with thirteen horses..." 

"NIEGH Ponies!!" 

"Yes Leo, ponies! So I have to move hay bales, horses have to eat ya know.." 

"Pizza!" 

"Umm sorta Leo. Pizza horsey style, with oats and bran, I guess." 

"PIZZA PIZZA PIZZA!"

"We'll talk about this later babe. I gotta go make pizza."

The other pieces of the Leo therapy puzzle are coming along too, the other day he let me brush his mop, but when I tried to crop it a bit, it was a battle of epic proportions. I guess we still have some work to do there. 

Meanwhile he will just have to rock that shaggy mullet look. 

So far, the ramble through fall has been great, if a little noisy and chaotic. But I am slowly learning to remember to take deep yoga breaths (you know, the funky noise ones where it sounds like you have major adenoid issues) when the chaos is threatening to overwhelm. Hey if you can't stop the noise, you may as well add to it. Plus when the inevitable bumpy ride comes along, at least you will be properly oxygenated. Just make sure you happen to be holding a sword. You never know when one may come in handy.

And after you climb back out of the hole, you can always snuggle up next to a lion, or a monkey and sleep it all off, Leo style, preferably until spring.

Until next time, love from Leo.