Following my own advice to get out, even if it's only around the neighborhood, I've had some great sights, sounds, and a couple of mysteries.

Philly and Peggy, our two faithful and beloved dogs, led me to one mystery. Two or three times a week, they must go outside at about 3 AM. Several times in the last month, as I've waited for them on the back porch, I've heard a whirring sound that occurs at intervals of several seconds. It does not sound mechanical but has a birdish quality. Not at all the hoot of an owl, which I heard earlier in the fall. I've never heard it at any other time in the day or evening.

Photo by Karen FCC