Yesterday morning, on my daily walk to the train station, I saw a flock of geese flying South. I was walking across the Market St. bridge over the Schuylkill river, and the sun had been up for about half an hour. I assume they took off from the river; I’ve frequently seen geese chillin’ (you know, just chillin’, like geese do) along the banks by the Riverwalk and the Art Museum.

They started out as a line, rather than a traditional V. They were low in the sky, so you could tell that they had just taken off, but as they rose higher some of them broke off and migrated over to the other side, to form the other flank of the V. I wonder how they knew to do that, and how they decided which ones and how many of them to move, and how much of it was instinct and how much (if any) “thought”? I always wonder that about animals, how much they remember and how much they can think, and how much self-consciousness they have, if any.

Anyways, that really brought home to me that Autumn is here for good now, even though we’ve had an indian summer of late. But today was cooler again, and the leaves have color and are starting to flame, fire becoming visual rather than felt. The sun comes up later, too, and it’s dark when I have to get out of bed. Which makes it tough, and it will only get tougher with time, although the time change will bring a little bit of relief.

I’m not looking forward to the days when I leave home in the dark and return in the dark, and basically never see daylight at all. Times like that make me want to curl up with a blanket, a friend, a fire, and a good book or ten, and just not move for a couple of weeks.