Day 19 Notice; Did You Notice

Did you notice the plum tree?
Tiny green leaves  and blossoms
Bursting out of the tips of the tiny nubs on its branches.
It is autumn the tree oblivious to the calendar
Sprouted new foliage.
A sacrifice to the frost
An offering to the cold
A consequence of warm fall days.

Did you notice the sun sets so early?
We finish our walk in the dark
The dog pulling all the way.
We use our phones for flashlights
I will try to come home sooner. 

Did you notice the chickens are on strike?
An egg here or there but for the most part nothing.
Uniform, store-bought
Mass-produced, pale-yolked
Stand it ends for the real deal that's all we've got.

Did you noticed the crisp bite to the morning air?
You mentioned it as I hit the snooze for the third time.
A cold nemesis is returning.
The schedule won't budge.
Everything feels too early.

Did you noticed my bare limbs scrambling
To push life into the fading light?
My body barren
Molting.
Shivering.

Did you notice the fall of my fertility?
Diagnosis: Peri-Menopausal with PCOS.

The ever present calendar cannot predict the
Impending winter in months and years
Rather in nutrition hormones and cycles.
Push out another bud unfurl another leaf.
Faith will protect against the frost
Who knows it may be a warm, wet winter.

Did you notice we are in a drought?
Years now of below average rain fall
A new normal is emerging.
Reservoirs and creeks are dry
Fires come with force
Hills covered in kindling but
After this last little storm
Grass is poking through the cracked earth.
Maybe this is the year;
Maybe this is the time the forecasters get it right.

Did you notice the traffic lately and all the new construction?
Despite mudslides and earthquakes
the taxes and regulations
the cost-of-living
Not to mention the drought
people just keep coming.
"Hope springs eternal"
The cliché aphorism gives a casual shrug.
Hope!

Just risk it! Double down! All in!

Did you notice the plum tree? 

No you have to look closely

Come outside with me. 

It thinks it's Spring you say

The gnarled trunk covered in lichen Is far wiser than that

The leaves are a coded message 

They whisper courage faith hope.