See? Autumn Leaves!

I don't want to give you the impression that California is completely devoid of colorful Autumn wonderfulness.

We have, for example, beautiful Poison Oak.

But the color peaks around July or August.

More Leaves Than Color

In California, the prevailing autumn colors are shades of brown. 

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Old Tomato Can

You know, my father used to drink coffee out of an old tomato can.

He always said, "The coffee couldn't kill you, but an old tomato can!"*

-+-+-+-+-

* I didn't get that gag until I was about 30 years old. 

Consumption Culture

I'm already sick of ads about my "holiday shopping" and it's not even October yet. 

Just think how jolly I'm going to be by the time we turn the spooky corner into November.

I'll be so sick of it all that I'll feel like -- well, a new 21st Century meaning for "dying of consumption". 

There's money to be made

If you keep your eyes open while walking the neighborhood streets, you can find coins. Maybe not every day, but sometimes. 

Lately the coins I find have been ground against the ground so long they are barely recognizable. 

Are these even still legal tender? I have my doubts. Especially that clipped dime.

But twenty-two cents! On one walk! Such fun!

I don't do "To Do" these days

Back in my working-for-money days (not counting the lost year-plus when I was working the Job From Hell for The Company That Must Not Be Named), I would revise and print two simple to-do text files every afternoon before going home. One for work, that went on my ever-present managerial clipboard, and one for home, that got folded and stuck in a pocket and scribbled on over the next 24 hours as need arose. 

After I quit the JFH, and subsequently conceded workforce defeat and retired, I modernized to using Google Keep notes. For a few years I had a really neat working system of lists for recurring tasks, where I would turn individual tasks on or off for the given day. So clean! So organized! 

After some time in the summer of 2023 I sort of lost my grip, or even the desire to hold on, to the pretense of being organized and efficient at being a grownup. The panic attacks increased, and what with one thing and another, I chose the road of less toxic stress. 

Mysterious: the laundry still gets done. The supplies still get resupplied. I still cook a lot of dinners. Care gets given. And, like, wow! Without a to-do list! 

I even cleaned the toilet this morning! (I'm so proud of me!)

Herpetological Matrix Tanka

Out for my health walk

I see little fence swifts,

A type of lizard.

But there's always only one.

Are they all the same lizard?