This time of year marks the end of fall as we know it, even though winter doesn’t officially begin until December 21. First and foremost is the weather. Seemingly, it doesn’t begin getting “cold” now until the second week of November. When we were kids, it began getting cold, or at least cooler, in mid-October or at least that’s what memory serves. Now, daylight savings time ends, and it gets darker earlier and lighter later (by the clock.) And then, golf courses begin changing as fairway grasses become dormant, the rough is allowed to grow, sand traps are packed by occasional rains, and the greens become rocket fast. Also, men’s and women’s golf leagues suspend for the winter, and pickleball becomes “iffy” because of cold and wet conditions. For us “macro” photographers, there is an absence of suitable natural subjects as birds haven’t settled in, butterflies migrate or seek warmer environments, dragonflies vanish, and wildflowers and mushrooms disappear. Also, soccer season for the grandkids is over for the year.

In that vane, we attended Ridge’s last two soccer games on Saturday. Despite his team not doing so well, he played great all season, and improved significantly. Central Standard Time returned to this area early Sunday morning, and threw us into a “jet lag” mode for a couple of days. Golf and golf related activities were the major attractions for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. That same week, a long overdue dental cleaning and X-rays appointment occurred on Tuesday, and Kay “hosted” the HSV Lady Duffers Fall Luncheon on Thursday; this was a major effort requiring many hours and days of work. Except for a medical appointment (Kay), Friday was quiet and absent any excitement. However, I did replace the “house” or “coach” batteries in the motorhome. The old ones thankfully lasted six years.

It’s also this time of year when preparations are made for winter travel and migration to a warmer area. On Saturday, the motorhome was moved out of storage to the HSV RV park for packing, restocking, and cleaning. Kay made short work of packing and organizing our winter things. I spent Saturday evening in the coach to make sure everything worked and cleaned dust and debris that had accumulated over the summer. A few remaining items were transferred to the coach and Kay essentially completed packing and restocking Sunday after church.