Bribe Cookies

The leaves have been falling for a while now, but I’ve not done a thing to rake them up. This weekend was the first dry day, so you’d think that that’s where I’d be, but no–before you can rake, you have to cut everything back and down, and it’s just now that things have begun to die back.

Yesterday I made a sizable dent in what needs to be done. There’s still a lot left, but at least now I have a section of yard that’s ready to rake–if I can convince someone to do it. Shouldn’t take too much. I already made the “bribe” cookies. My best yet, I think, as I made a double batch and cut them extra thick.

I loved getting out in the dirt for a few hours, and there is truly no scent like that of yellow and red leaves, sort of a waxy, not unpleasant vegetation decaying smell. It was there when I got out of the car last week, and it will remain until the scent of unfallen snow slips into the low areas. (And unfallen snow does have a scent. It’s a mix of temp, pressure, and moisture, but “scent” is the closest thing I have to name the sensation. Maybe it’s a Michigan thing.)

So I’m working on Peri today. She kept me up last night. I’ve really not had a chance to focus on her for almost six weeks, and I’m seeing a few things I need to change in the present work. However, I’m not going back and changing them . . . yet. Just a few notes in the margin and then forge on as if I made the changes. Otherwise, I’ll spend the next six weeks looking at the exact same pages.