Anyway, the leaves are freshly raked from the back lawn, and I'm sneezing and sniffling due to having inhaled a bunch of small particles of nature during the process. I also found several green walnuts hiding in the grass and leaves, along with a goatload of empty walnut shells left from that part of the crop already eaten by birds and squirrels. So far, I think we're getting about a third of the tree's production this year. In exchange for the other two thirds, we get to watch the squirrels romp and to listen to the sound of birds cracking nuts. Fair exchange. In San Francisco I'd have to go to the park to find that entertainment.
The cat enjoyed watching me rake the leaves, and she even ran through the pile of them a couple of times, but mostly she just supervised. Then she came indoors for a snack and a nap, being all tuckered out from the watching. She likes to do more of her napping indoors now that the days are a bit cooler. I'd like to do more of mine outdoors, for the same reason. Some clouds provided me with intermittent shade while I was raking, which greatly improved the working conditions. Even on a cool day such as this, the direct sunlight soon becomes unpleasantly hot when exertion is involved. The clouds have now drawn off, and I can see through my window a few piles of white fluff drifting toward the mountains. The afternoon is quite placid, and I think I'll go out and enjoy it for a while, until it's time to cook dinner.