Early Fall in the River valley

Today is the first full day of fall.  We have had some quite chilly mornings, mixed with wonderful sun, slowly heating up the air.  It was a little hazardous vision wise on my drive to work but I was stopped and able to take a couple quick photos of the fog coming off the Mississippi.  Pardon the dash board.  I could live year round in these kind of temperatures.  The fog has such allure, particularly seeing it over a river when you can't tell where the land, water, or sky meet. 

I was loaded, over loaded in fact at work, so couldn't so much as get a walk around the building.  I made up for it at home, and Kota, my darling dog, even scored two walks-one before dinner, and a second just a bit ago, in the dark.    I got dinner started, some simple rice, beans, and cheese with tortilla, and headed for walk one. Once back, the girls and I went to town on the makeshift tex-mex, eating out on the deck rather than inside.  I polished off the remaining premixed margarita's, hiding in my fridge for just such a dinner happy hour.  Walk two required a flashlight as there wasn't so much as a star to help guide us on the path. 

We met loads of other dogs and owners both times. It is so hard keeping indoors on these warmer fall nights in Minnesota.  We are anticipating another 80 degree high on Wednesday, but know we must brace for the 30-40 degree swing south, potentially coming in the same week. While I raved about my dream to relocate to the UK, this is the season, and kind of weather, that draws folks into my part of Minnesota.  Sadly, after fall lures them in, winter freezes the feet to the ground.  I'm a long way from retirement, but I think I might have a seasonal living plan for when I do.  Minnesota gets dibs on September -early November.  


Just a foggy haze on the other side of the bridge



You can see the fog rising up from the river

I want to thank all of you that have given my site a read or two.  On Sunday I hit my first milestone and went over 1,000 page views.  Now granted, I probably might be a fair share of those even with trying to not track my own.  While I read blogs that have thousands of views a day,  sharing my ideas and thoughts with any of you readers has been a wonderful outlet for the random things going through my head.  Trying to adjust to a new framework, and see life with a realistic, but open minded lens to other perspectives and writing about it has been more difficult than I thought.  Trying to not sound whiny, insensitive, dull, or self indulgent is a challenge.  I hope my posts get better, lighter, and are infused with more fun.  As I move into the next phase, I intend to bring in a little content with some research behind it.  Comments and ideas are appreciated.  For those who found me, and came back more than once, and those that did so from outside the US, let me know what's working, or what maybe isn't.  Thanks again.