Thoughts do wander amid warm fall weather
Ioffer some random thoughts for a Sunday in December: Rare is the day that I can write this column from my patio in December, but the delightfully warm fall we have had so far is allowing me to listen to the chirp of nuthatches and the
of passing HarleyDavidsons as I look over the house and assess all of the things we accomplished on the to-do list this year.
It’s the first week of December, and a neighbor is running his lawnmower. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he is mulching leaves, not cutting grass.
I just finished raking leaves a short time before the mower started. It’s good exercise, but, honestly, I’d rather be shoveling show this time of year. And given that I have only four trees in my little yard — three of which dropped all of their leaves weeks ago — I am cursing my decision to plant a sweet gum tree.
Many people complain about the spiky little balls shot off by sweet gum trees. Those don’t bother me much, but the fact that the tree holds onto many of its leaves until mid-December is beyond annoying. Determining when a tree drops its leaves in the fall will be a high priority in deciding which trees we plant in the future — after height, shape and fall leaf color.
I could see that tree up close two weekends ago — another warm one — when I was on the roof doing some repairs to the flashing around our chimney and the drip edge along one side
■ of the family room. Those jobs had been on my list for months, and with a weekend of warm weather, I took the opportunity to button them up before snow flies — and settles on the roof for weeks on end.
As I write this from the picnic table, it is nearly 5 p.m. and darkness is close at hand. I have found a new way to deal with nighttime’s early arrival. Its name is Nebo, and it’s a flashlight so powerful that it should come with a warning to wear sunglasses while operating it.
I learned about Nebo flashlights from my friend Sam Yoder, who owns Yoder’s Hardware in Walnut Creek. Many of his Amish customers use the powerful lights, which come with bright white and red bulbs, for light and safety as they walk along dark country roads in Holmes County.
The flashlights aren’t cheap, but they are bright. The LED light in the Slyde+ model that I bought can be focused into a spotlight, or you can slide the handle to expose a wide beam of light akin to a headlight on a modern car. The heavy-duty flashlight has a magnetic base that allows you to stick
it on a car fender or any other steel structure.
One bit of steel that held it recently was our snowblower, which we recently removed from storage and spent time preparing for winter duty. Now that we’ve done our duty to put air in the tires and make sure it runs, we have ensured that there will be little to no snow in the near future.
Also preparing for winter is the squirrel, acorn in mouth, that just jumped from a nearby bush onto the trellis along the patio. It was clearly surprised to see that it was sharing the patio with a man in a jacket typing on a computer. (I told you this column would be random thoughts.)
With the last bit of light slipping away, it was time to head inside to contemplate the indoor projects that will keep us busy through the winter.
My last thought for the day is to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.