45. The temperature this morning at my house. This seems right. Winter is coming. To Texas. It feels good. Of course, I now need to start thinking about bringing down winter bedding for the cats, and it feels as though I just took last years upstairs. Of course, that may well be due to my dithering this past spring, but that’s another story entirely.

The fall bloomers in the yard are enjoying the change. I’ve already made note of the Asters. But the evergreen Sumac is big enough this year to put on a show and it’s doing so. Lots of nice tiny white blooms. The Big Muhly, the last of the native grasses we planted on arrival at our new home, is also blooming in the garden off the back porch, tall and showy. The Gulf Muhly have all pretty much departed the scene, having lost their place in the sun to trees that were planted at the same time.

Later, in a month or so, when the winter gets harder and all the trees lose their leaves, I do believe we will take out the yaupon holly that is much too big and much to close to the house. It will be hard, partly because it was one of the first trees we planted, but it’s done its duty of providing early shade to that end of the house. Two oaks and a crape myrtle are now big and tall and on the shade job. Luckily, one of its offspring is out growing beneath the big oaks, so we’ll keep the holly line alive and maybe this one will bloom a bit more and give us red berries in the morning sun.

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver’s Tale