Somebody left the northern borders open, and there is a very cold wind blowing here in northern Mass. today.

My DH is out trying to finish the paint touchups to the house, and I wondered if the blasts would knock him off the ladder.

I checked on my potted hosta clustered on the covered patio edges where some light rain will reach them but not drown them and cause rot. The leaves are beginning to shrivel and turn brown, only one is that lovely golden fall color. The daylilies are already trimmed back to a Mohican cut, but remain green.

Time of first frost was on average October 10, yet has not come to town. Perhaps it will arrive this Sunday. Chipmunks are not running along the rock walls, that I can see anyway. But squirrels are super busy removing the last of the hickory nuts from ground and tree limbs. The last of the red berries on the hedge disappeared with the chipmunks.

Maybe it is because I grew up liking Alvin and the Chipmunks singing but seeing those perky little creatures cheers me up. That tail held up straight as a flag pole, and the jaw pouches full of some treat, I don't begrudge them their presence in our yard. Of course, I've only lived around them seasonally for the last 5 years, not a lifetime. Maybe I'd be less welcoming if familiarity had led to contempt.

I'm looking forward to wearing my "Nanook of the North" long coat, which is the first cold-climate coat I've ever owned, and it feels so good when I put it on. As a result of marrying a MA. native, I've been privileged to experience real cold weather below zero, ice on the roads, and snow deep enough to cover the car, and prevent us opening the door. I learned that sometimes it gets too bad to drive up here, and people ski to work or just wait for the snow plow to clear the streets. It isn't all about pretty white stuff.

And I also learned that you don't generally get the kind of rain I take as normal where I'm from. Nor do you have the same kind of thunderstorms even. I guess it is a cloud thing....our atmosphere is different because of our latitude. Not being a scientific person, I just take weather as it comes. It's been a joy to learn to garden in a four seasons climate. Things change. They let me get a rest. I will regret not being here to have seasons any more, but take with me the love for hostas that I've acquired in the last two years. Next spring I may come north to remove items from our house here, but essentially this Thanksgiving will be my farewell to Yankee gardening. I won't say goodbye to the Hosta Forum, however. I will try to translate the help given me to making a suitable garden for the hosta travelling south.