Happy Fall, Y'All!by Courtney Mroch | More from this Blogger 23 Sep 2007 09:19 AM
Autumn's here! The autumnal equinox took place at 5:51 a.m. Eastern time today. I wish it only felt more fall-like here in Nashville. We had a heck of a summer with above high temperatures. (Actually, we had a stretch of record-busting 100 degree days that made everything -people, plants, and pets-swelter.) Then we got a little reprieve the last two weeks. The air felt a little cooler in the mornings and evenings, and the highs were closer to seasonable. It started to take on fallish aspects. But from Thursday until today we were back to above-average temps for this time of year. Today we'll be in the 90s. (Low 90s, but still...we should be low 80s!) Yet, as Murph and I took our customary walk this morning we noticed a shift nonetheless. At the start of summer we saw bunnies galore, with the occasional squirrel or two. Then the dog days of summer kicked in like I mentioned above so anything that could conserve its energy and seek shelter in the shade did. Including the bunnies and squirrels. We haven't seen much of them lately. Maybe a bunny here or there, but the squirrels have been nowhere to be found. Until this morning, that is. We saw over a dozen at various points along our route. A couple were foraging and burying, but for the most part they were having a high time frolicking, romping, and chasing each other across lawns and up trees. Murph was in heaven. He likes nothing better than to try and chase them. At our former house in Jacksonville we had a fenced-in yard and he took great delight in letting them surround the bird feeder, waiting for them to drop their guard, and then springing forth and chasing them along the fence. Luckily he never caught one. (Although there have been a few close calls. And he's hoping whatever new house we get has a fenced-in yard with squirrels so he can resume this practice.) But I thought it was so weird. I haven't seen that many squirrels for months, then all of a sudden today they were out in spades. Wild. It's like they know it's the first day of fall too. (And are celebrating because they're ready for the cooler weather to come also!) Related Articles National Wildlife Day: Animals on My Mind Top Cameras to Take Leaf Peeping Where to View Fall Colors in Your Neck of the Woods Learn more about Courtney Mroch  Courtney Mroch is a wife, a proud pet parent, and a writer. She's been with her husband, high school sweetheart Wayne Pryor, over 20 years, married 11 of those. She's "mom" to Mr. Meow, a.k. Relevantpets tags User Comments  Michele Cheplic |
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