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Well, if dogs could have a look on their face that says "I told you so" ...

Here's a personal timeline at our home here in Athens, Ohio, which is also the home of Lucky Press LLC (publisher) and Janice Phelps LLC (design). Four tornadoes touched down in Athens County last night, and 2 in nearby Meigs County.


7:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, 2010:
I'm on the couch with the laptop writing and checking FB ). I hear thunder in the distance, know that Jackie our Chihuahua will not want to go outside in it, so decide to get them up early to get out before the rain hits.

7:30-11:00: Tyler and Jackie spend all morning huddled with me on the couch while I work on websites, work on illustration sketches, work on novel, check Facebook. We have a direct look out huge window to our beautiful woods and everything is gray, rainy, and wet. I love it--great day for creative work.

11:00-5:30: working on computer

5:30 - 6:30 p.m. I am on the phone with a publisher, oblivious to weather.

6:30 p.m. We turn the news on and hear reports of storm cells and a "hook" design in the system that looks dangerous. The area between Lancaster and Athens is in danger of tornadoes. I call our elderly friend, David, in nearby Logan (home of the beautiful Hocking Hills) and tell him to stay down on his first floor (he has no TV).

Now, here's where the canine wisdom comes in. Tyler (9-year-old Pekingnese) wants to sit right up against me, behind me on the kitchen chair. Jackie (7-year-old Chihuahua) is hiding under the table, taking a break from wondering why I haven't drawn her Autumn Season illustration yet. Farley just wants our food. After dinner (or more accurately, "supper"), Mark goes off for his ONE HOUR on the treadmill (are you impressed, because I certainly am!) and I wonder how, once again , I can sit on the couch while my husband works so valiently to stay fit.

I pull out exercise mat from its demanding place neara TV, turn on on-demand Parenthood episdoes I never saw when televised, and lie on the floor attempting pathetic "crunches." (

The temperature and humidity are dropping. The days are getting shorter. Between May and September, here's what the weather seemed like to me: springlike, rain, rain, rain, hot, really hot, continued hot, can't-stand-it-hot, cool, muggy, 48 degrees, socks, thunderstorms...

But I know that soon the leaves will change color. I will look out our kitchen window and find the small tree where the birdfeeder hangs has turned yellow, yellow, ORANGE! After I spent s e v e n t e e n looooonnnngggg years smoldering in Florida, I returned to Ohio (and a March blizzard) with joy and anticipation of Spring! Summer! and Fall!

Now, 11 years later, I still feel excited when the leaves start to change, and now that Mark and I have over four acres of trees, I have lots of opportunity to study their cyclical hues. As the days shorten, the sun rises in our dining room window and sets right across from the kitchen window. When the leaves give up and scatter to the wind, it is then I can see the hot rosy sun set behind the hills as we meet in the kitchen for dinner. Here are some photos* from our place on Earth to you, from fall 2009, scenes I will enjoy this year as well.

(*All photos ©2009 Janice Phelps Williams. All rights reserved. If you want to share these with friends for noncommercial use, please tell them about AppalachianMorning.blogspot.com.)