RAIN!

The first rains of the season have come and gone.  The temperature dropped, the clouds rolled in and the sky opened up. In 3 days our rain gauge indicated 4.5 inches.
Everyone I here is complaining that it is "too early", "we hardly had a summer, much less fall", or simply "I hate Humboldt County".
 I, on the other hand, am ready for the rain and wind.  Bring it on! I love the rain, especially in the early season when the trees are dropping the redwood needles, and everything is washed clean.
The sun is taking longer to come up in the morning, and it is dark at 7:30 in the evening. Soon we will have fires every night, crackling the warmth into our bones,  keeping the damp cold at bay.
Gus and I busted a move and got some much needed pre-winter mowing done yesterday.  Imagine my smug satisfaction when I woke around 3:30am to the sound of pouring rain. I have a feeling we made it in the last little window of "dry weather". Gus decided to take advantage of the rain by burning our pile of blackberry and ivy slash from earlier this summer. Although the pile is now reduced to ashes, I am afraid my neighbors are all pissed at us from the smoke we created.  Oh well. The fact that we have cleaned the wood stove pipes, the gutters are all cleared, and the firewood is stacked leaves me feeling prepared for winter now.  I am ready to hibernate!