Just a few more weeks please

I am sitting on my beloved patio at 6:00 am, watching the water bubble over the waterfalls and into our pond and I have noticed with great sadness that all the koi are huddled in a cluster at the bottom of the pond. I know what this means. It means it's getting too cold for them to stay on the surface. Oh sure, when the sun comes up in another hour they will slowly venture up to wander around the pond looking for food, but I've noticed that they aren't eating as much as they usually do. These are the obvious signs of the heralding of autumn. The funny thing is, I love autumn! It's always been my favorite season, but this year I am a bit melancholy because I have had the best summer ever since moving to Nebraska. I have curled up on my wicker couch, sheltered under the gazebo in the predawn hours typing away or reading or sometimes just watching the water. As the sun begins to creep just slightly over the crest of the forest, I sit quietly, hardly daring to breath, as deer come out of the forest and across the meadow for an early morning graze. Wild turkeys sometimes cross down from the meadow as well and if I'm very quiet, they come to the edge of the pond for a drink and never notice that I'm there. Once the sun is a bit higher, the rabbits and squirrels appear, scavenging through the wild flowers and herbs looking for anything interesting. Once I can see well enough, I will scour the grounds for errant weeds and attempt to tame the mint that grows so prolifically next to the rocks with the fairy doors. At some point during the day, Derek will IM me to check and make sure I have spent a sufficient amount of time lolling around on the hammock. Don't get me wrong, there will still be opportunities to spend time outside until it is decidedly colder, but I have noticed how busy the squirrels are, running back and forth from all points to the huge cottonwood tree in our neighbors yard, always with some treasure that they haul up the tree and squirrel away (pardon the pun) for the upcoming winter months. Sadly our local weather forecaster tells us that fall is coming three weeks early this year. It seems so unfair. I finally have this incredible garden to while away the days in and soon it will be too cold. I'm not faint hearted though. I can always lay on my over sized, quilted hammock wrapped in a blanket. At least for a while.