The rain is here. The cold is here. Not the bone chilling cold that I know will shock me again in another couple of months, but the cold weather that reminds me that we are ill equipped for the upcoming winter. Long pants haven’t been a part of our wardrobe for over three years now. The heavy winter coats that I stored are laughably too small for both boys. All of our shoes are open-toed. And Evan came in today, asking for slippers. The fuzzy kind, not the rubber slipper beach kind. I daresay we’ll be forced to actually shop within the next week or so, which is nobody’s favorite activity around here.

The boys are (in shorts) reveling in the cool weather, taking the opportunity to modify their mountain bike track while the ground is soft, and without breaking a sweat.

The garden is wet and limp, with green tomatoes begging to be rescued from the cold. I managed to pick one last batch of ripe tomatoes, and the canner is bubbling with jars of salsa. The green tomatoes, once they come in, will become chow chow. I’m feeling very much like a squirrel, getting ready for the winter. If only I had such a nice coat!