I have been relieved

My dog sitting (aka: wolf watching) duties have come to an end.
The kids are home.
The dogs are happy.

But...
They are downstairs expecting me to get them their breakfast while the kids are still in bed. Maybe having an early riser in the house is a good thing -- for the dogs. I suppose the late breakfast and late dinners that they were used to having will again be their normal routine.

We'll be here for a couple of more days to visit with the kids, but they will be back to work and back to their lives and we will get back to ours as well (lives, not work). As always, getting back home with our stuff and our routine will be a good thing.

Also -- getting down to a breathable altitude will be nice. 
I'm not sure how long it takes to adapt to living at nearly 9,000 ft (2750 m), but it is definitely longer than 4 weeks!

Since the weather has been warm at home, I am sure I will need to mow everything. Grass grows well in the southwestern Missouri fall. One more time and the mower can be put away until spring.
There is more fall garden work to do that I would have been doing in October. I guess I'll need the garden tractor (mower) for a little longer.
I need to decide what I'm going to do about winterizing the deck this year. I hate giving up my outdoor space -- even for just a few months.
The fireplace is always an inviting option on cold mornings, as is leaving for someplace warm for several weeks. We have no current travel plans.

In any case, winter in the mountains is no place for this warm weather boy. The relatively mild Midwestern winters of SWMO are much more doable than the cold and snow of the Colorado Rockies.
Home by the end of the week will be good.

John