Scratchin' and Peckin': And How Like a Field is the Whole Sky Now

Neighbors in October

All afternoon his tractor pulls a flat wagon

with bales to the barn, then back to the waiting

chopped field. It trails a feather of smoke.

Down the block we bend with the season:

shoes to polish for a big game,

storm windows to batten or patch.

And how like a field is the whole sky now

that the maples have shed their leaves, too.

It makes us believers—stationed in groups,

leaning on rakes, looking into space. We rub blisters

over billows of leaf smoke. Or stand alone,

bagging gold for the cold days to come.

--David Baker

Today was a perfect fall day. Slept in until 8:30, which if you have smallish kids like I do, you know that's sort of late-ish. Let the squawky chickens out of their coop to roam the 'hood, then made some coffee and pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. I almost always make pancakes from scratch, cause they consist of, like 5 basic ingredients, but these are a Trader Joe's mix and trust me, they are next level! TJ's only has them in the fall and winter, so if you want to take some to the beach in August say, you should probably STOCK UP before they disappear (note to self!).

Then, the firewood people from Craigslist called to confirm that I still wanted my cord of wood dropped off today. YES, I most certainly did. I was so excited when the guys, Jeremy and Jeff, drove up with my load of wood. They pitched it out onto my driveway, because I told them I wanted to stack it. Really, that's too good of a chore to let someone else do. I loooove stacking wood. I love how it smells and the feel of each piece in my hand and the puzzle of stacking it evenly and soundly. If you ever need a bunch of wood stacked, I'm your gal. Seriously. I also like to help people pack and move, but that's another story (but keep me in mind, ok?) Here's the pile and then a shot of what was stacked at that point. Isn't it GRRREAT?!