Autumn Leaves Must Fall

The tourists like the autumn leaves lingered but have now gone to wherever they were from. And now the fairweather residents have left us too. The hale and the hearty remain. The Farmers and Traders Market has moved indoors. The Market Square is empty. Some shops and restaurants have closed, others have reduced their hours. It is late November. The routine of daily walks is tempered by the rain , which, recently, seems endless. Yet there is a quiet beauty about it all. It is time for those of us who no longer have paid employment to put up our feet by the fire, to read, to write, to prepare meals for friends, and just maybe to have an afternoon nap.