Our fall rains appear to be arriving right on schedule.  it's been quite dry, though, and I've been irrigating some.  Fire danger is low - according to the sign seen on Thursday.  But on Oct 1st, the fire dept. did put out an announcement that backyard burning season would not begin until Oct. 15th or later.  Soil shows some moisture in most places, but the lane has been dusty.  With about 1/4 of rain since noon yesterday, we got a few puddles.  A lot of the ash leaves have fallen, and maple and cottonwood are starting to fall.  There are still good apples on the trees, and a bit of searching can find a good blackberry on the vines somewhere.  Calves are looking pretty good.  The fields that have been hayed have turned green again.  We saw flocks of geese a couple weeks ago, but few last week.  The turkey vultures probably left - a fellow birder at the coast saw a huge (100+) kettle of turkey vultures.  Here, the ravens seem to be taking advantage and owning the skies.  A few weeks ago, practically everyone seemed to have the sniffles, but now most folks noses seem cleared up.  Road repair has been getting done around the county.  Frogs are frequently heard croaking.  It seems that we have acquired a bullfrog in addition to our regular tree frogs and red-legged frogs.  Preying mantises keep showing up - but not yellowjackets.  I have eaten outside a few times this week without a single yellowjacket turning up.  There are a variety of spiders, some box elder bugs and stink bugs, paper wasps, and flies of various sorts.  The hazelnut bushes appear to have a fairly good crop.