When I look out my wall of windows and French doors, I see my beautiful Connecticut River, the October artistry of leaves beginning their changing to a rich palette of autumn color. But, I have to say, my view has begun to change to appreciating what my cat sees.   

I am  pretty sure her view includes the river and the trees, but what she gloms onto, focuses on, are the three squirrels who run along our deck railing multiple times a day, gathering their acorns from the oaks, and preparing for winter.

Watching the squirrels through cat’s eyes has given me things to ponder this October that I am not sure I have ever pondered at this level:

1. We need to prepare for winter
2. We need to gather while there is time
3. We need to be busy, working, for when the time and weather don’t allow us to do so

I used to think about this a little bit when I subscribed to Martha’s Stewart Living, and would read her monthly calendar, where she would let me know when it was time to rotate closet clothing for seasons, and when to do the cold weather gardening, and when to bring in the plants, and when to wash and put away summer linens, and things like that. I didn’t actually do most of those “to do” things, but it did give me pause, and allow me to see an order to life that I had not appreciated fully in my busy, modern,  rushing around life.   

Now that I have no little ones at home, I could actually do the Martha-Squirrel things. But, that is probably next year.

This year, we are still renovating. The bedroom side with its master bedroom, master bath and walk in closet should be dry-walled by November. If the flooring gets in this year, I could conceivably start to rotate my seasonal clothing by bringing down my winter things to the walk-in, and using one of the upstairs rooms to store our summer-spring clothing. That luxury remains to be seen. It could be moving down my summer clothes and storing winter ones if the work-vacation schedule make completing the flooring and shelving impossible by Thanksgiving.

Stay tuned. I will let you know our progress. In the meantime, cat never tires of watching the squirrels, and I am now much more conscious of the cycle of seasons and their various tasks.