No one, not even November, believes it's November.

Yes, there are leaves on the path, but look at that sunshine and feel the warm breeze flowing through the trees. Runners are wearing shorts and tee-shirts just like in August and the walkers aren't bundled up, they are strolling with their jackets unzipped. The nights have brought only mid-fifties, so who really believes it's November? The squirrels, that's who. Those grey fluffy tailed tree rats are everywhere in the park, working, digging and making big thick nests.

Over there, across the river, the trees seem to have caught on to autumn even if the wind hasn't. A great banner of yellow and red has unfurled over the Palisades announcing it's arrival.
Still I haven't seen a flight of geese yet. Most Sunday mornings at this time of year one can see several at a time. They cruise down the open air over the river and disappear in the mists beyond the George Washington Bridge. No ducks yet either. Well, that's not entirely true. I saw a large flock of them at the reservoir last Thursday night , but then there are always some ducks there so it is impossible to tell if they are residents or tourists.


The photo on the top was taken in late May in early morning, the other on a recent Friday about noon. The trees may be changing but I regretted wearing a long sleeved shirt and a sweatshirt on the run. At least I regretted it while I was running. In the short time it took to take a few shots, my body had chilled through and it took until I was almost at the top of Bennett's Hill before I was warm again. It makes it very hard to know what to take for the Central Park runs.

This past Sunday, Marathon Day, I wore a short sleeved shirt and had a sweatshirt tied around my waist. That was fine as long as I could keep running but once I got slowed by all of the people in the Park and then out on Central Park West, the cold sweat began to wear on me. I stopped at 47th and Fifth to put on the sweatshirt only to discover that I had lost my keys. What a disaster!! I had to make a few phone calls and get the gym to first let me in and second, to re-issue a new barcode tag. I am calm about this now but when I first discovered the unzipped pocket I about had a heart attack. Thank God for understanding bosses.