Work!

The new stunt around the house is that the cats want to ride my shoulders to and from the woodpile. This adds a certain aerobic potential to keeping home fires burning in the wood stove. If I owned a set of weights, I could pawn them for extra cash. Marcus is pretty easy to handle. He’s comfortable riding tucked in on the shoulders. Sabrina, O she of the long claws, likes to dig in—ouch. I need a heavy sweater to wear for this exercise.

Other forms of seasonal exercise include clearing up the garden. At this time of year, dead vines, poles, pumpkins hidden in concealed spots, and other garden debris need cleaning up.

Since we live by a nature sanctuary, it’s also leaf raking season. We gather and mulch enough to cover all the beds, leaving the woodland garden areas covered. We mulched sufficient of this fall already that the old mulcher gave its last gasp, and I am now hunting for a more robust replacement.

So before you settle in at night with the hot spiced cider, there has been enough exercise for everyone—including the supervisory staff, Max ( the dog), and the two cats, Sabrina and Marcus, who demand a larger fire to warm themselves by.
After all, they had a hard day watching Dad work.