It Wasn’t a Contest

Our autumn leaves put on a wonderful show every year, but this year my enjoyment was greatly enhanced by friend Brit and grandson David. Brit displayed her finds on the kitchen counter for us to enjoy, a handful at a time. David joined in, adding his favorites. One set grew for a couple of days, and I took a photo of the collage. We enjoyed it for a while before one of us erased the show and started another.

Two weeks later I stopped to pet CAT on my morning walk, and I saw lots of big leaves in her yard. I picked up one to take home. Its size was impressive compared to the earlier ones. All the leaves wanted to be chosen, but only four made the cut. I don’t have an artistic eye like Brit or attention to detail like David, but I was going to show off my fallen giants quietly on the counter. I figured they’d walk by and notice the new display, even if they didn’t comment on it. That’s when the camera took over. She said, “It has to be impressive, and it has to be recorded.”

I’m sure it was Cam’s idea to make a sign for the display, and she put the words in my head. The Post-it note says:

I won the SIZE contest.

Favorite Relatives

All my relatives are favorites, but they are most favorite when they are visiting me. John’s sister Barbara and Thom were here for a night, between visiting his brother in the middle of this state and one of their children in Maryland. It was wonderful to see them and catch up on their news. We talked a lot the evening they arrived, and we continued as we walked to the stop sign the next morning. I forgot to take a photo of us there; it was much easier to remember to take pictures at the creek. Thom did the honors with a selfie at the house.

I loved the roundup of news. Here are the brackets. Their youngest grandchild is three years old and has an amazing vocabulary. The oldest has a job in California, but she lives and works remotely in Manhattan. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was COASTing along.

As Barbara and Thom left here, they were heading to see two of four grandsons playing soccer in Maryland. They would have time to be together after the games, and the trip home to Long Island the next day would be a familiar one. Knowing them, they will hit the ground running. We didn’t have a lot of time together here, but we made the most of it. I enjoyed every minute.

After they left, David and I had a good laugh about the beginning of my day. Right now the easiest way to accommodate guests is for them to stay in my room, and I sleep in David’s room. I must have been reaching to shut off the alarm when I felt myself slipping off the lower bunk. On the way down, I told myself not to make a noise, and I didn’t scream. I didn’t even groan, but I did land with a thud. I looked toward David’s bed and didn’t see any movement, so I thought I was the only one who knew I’d fallen out of bed. David’s story? He heard a thump, raised his head, asked softly if I was OK, and after no response from me, put his head down again. He saw me moving and knew I was fine. Without hearing aids, I thought the room had been totally quiet. Just now, to satisfy my curiosity, I measured the distance from the top of the mattress to the floor. It was only 18 inches. I DO know better than to fall out of my bed. The fall there would be 33 inches.

Colder Weather

I read the roof across the street and knew we’d had a hard frost. My houseplants had been safely inside for days, so I could just enjoy the brisk air.

I had not read the street with its evidence that Logan and his nephews, Sufi and Pico, had left their marks. In the past, I envied Linda’s posts on street art in her area. There were drawings of professional quality (see here). I’m so happy we have some art of our own now.

Even though I feel the dog should be holding onto her fur, she has been shedding everywhere lately. I picked up one little tuft and knew right where it belonged. I had seen photos of model trains in John’s magazines, and Kacey’s fur was perfect as steam engine smoke on a table lamp.

Proud?

Arlene, a dear blog friend in Manila, the Philippines, has a post titled, “What are you most proud of in your life?” Her response to this question was full of wisdom, and you can read it here.

I laughed at the first thing that came to my mind – being the organist at church for 25 years. It had nothing to do with my musicianship. I was proud of the fact that I was never, ever late for a service. As I wrote in a comment, we had two services most Sundays plus special ones for Lent, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. I estimated that I was proud of being prompt over 2,850 times.

Merry Mayhem!

The years dropped away as I greeted Inga. She has been a friend of the family for a long time, but I hadn’t seen her for over ten years. She went to a wedding in a neighboring town and remembered I lived in Western North Carolina. It was marvelous that she could stay a night with us, prolonging her stay in the mountains. As an original flat-lander like me, she adores the mountains, especially when they are sporting their brilliant fall colors. She and her sons call me Aunt Anne, and I realized she is a niece with no blood ties.

This was the view from her window that day.

We had a chance to share our new experiences of widowhood. There are more differences than similarities. Her husband was cut down by cancer in the prime of his life. They had 7 years together, compared to 58 for John and me. I have children who look after me, and she has two young sons. My heart grieves for her and all she has had to face.

Good times go along with the sad ones. Neighbor Logan came over to meet these people he had never met. Inga was delighted to be with him, since she watched him grow up through my blog. His nephews are similar in age, so he knew how to entertain them. He ran home to bring over his fossils to show them.

Of the five video clips I took, this one has everyone in it – Inga, her sons, Brit and her sons, as well as David, dog Kacey, and Logan. Favorite toys were yo-yos, a balance ball, a radio controlled truck, the piano, and a plastic recorder (flute). Even the yo-yos were noisy as they barely missed people and hit the floor. It couldn’t have been too bad, since I didn’t shut down my hearing aids.

It was marvelous to be with Inga again. I hope she and the boys will be able to come again and stay longer.

Firefighter!

Oh! Life is exciting at my house now! Friend Brit has been training with the local volunteer fire department, and she just went to her first fire. I had already gone to bed and didn’t know until the next morning that she had done this. The abandoned house was off the beaten track and mostly consumed by the time someone called about it. There was no one to rescue and no reason to enter a building that was already gone. Brit said she was tired after pulling those heavy hoses around. Surely this was an ideal first experience. She shared two photos where the faces would be hard to identify and the department name is not visible.

Twice since then I’ve been here when Brit responded to an alarm – both times she ran through the house to jump in her car and race off. I would feel silly cheering her on, so I pray for her safety and that of her cohorts.

Brit takes wonderful photos with her phone, and this one caught my fancy. Kacey is bounding toward her, and the sturdy old oak tree is in the background.

Greetings on Monday

You’d think things would gear up slowly on a Monday morning, but I communicated with four people before 9:00 am. Some of Joyce’s mail was put in my box last week, so I left it in hers on the way up the street. There was a package shoved to the back. I stopped and texted her, thinking she’d want to take it in before going to work. We had time to wish each other a cheery good morning with our phones.

Neighbor Holly stopped on her way to work, encouraging me about walking. I’ve learned that newer cars shut off when stopped, but I still find it disconcerting. I bite my tongue to keep from asking how she’ll get to work when her car won’t go. Someone should tell me if taking your foot off the brake or tapping the gas pedal starts it again. Maybe AI just knows!

Bob stopped at the stop sign after taking Logan to school, knowing I was at the furthest point from my house. He said, “Fifty cents for a ride home.” I told him I didn’t have any money, and we both laughed as he drove away.

The last greeter was Bob’s brother Tom, here for a short while before going back to Florida. I asked what he was going to do with his early start. “I’m going to help Bob chop wood today,” he replied. “I know it’s not good to just sit and watch TV. People say you have to keep moving to stay alive.”

I said, “I agree, but my saying is shorter. You SIT – You DIE!”

This is what I saw going toward the stop sign.

It Wasn’t Mary Poppins

I knew the umbrella in my yard did not belong to Mary Poppins (a fictional character), because it was much too colorful. Mary’s was black. I spotted it on my way out to walk and took a photo of it when I got back. I’m sure it was there all day. I intended to pick it up, but I forgot it.

The next day I didn’t realize the umbrella was gone until I saw the pictures I had downloaded from the camera. I asked Brit if it was hers and if she had picked it up. She had used it when unloading things from her car, and it must have blown away while she was walking in the house. I went to the front porch to see if it had ended up in the large evergreen trees. Brit handed me a fresh cup of coffee she had made as she joined me on the porch. No umbrella was in sight. She lightly ran across the street barefooted and looked in her parents’ yard. Not there. Then she spotted it down the very steep hill, floating in the pond. I hope she will wear shoes when she goes to fetch it.

Here is a closeup from the street:

My Music has Measles

I was happily sight-reading music by Handel that I downloaded free from the internet, enjoying playing the piano again. When I picked up the iPad and looked closely at the page, I realized there were lots of staccato markings – little dots under the notes to make them very short. I couldn’t see them when the music was on the rack. If I had played the piece as marked, it would have sounded entirely different. The solution? I put a red dot on each mark, highlighting what I needed to see. The dots look a bit like a child’s face with measles. It worked fairly well. I think I can easily delete the marks with a few taps on the screen, although I intend to keep them there.

Logan’s Big Fish

Neighbor Logan (13) had this week off from school, and going fishing was one special treat. He and his dad Bob rented a cabin at Lake Logan for one night. Bob sent this photo to Shawn, and she shared it with me.

I saw father and son as they drove in and commented on the fish. Logan was still excited about all they caught, and especially this big one. At first he thought he’d gotten hung up on the log, but then the line came alive as the fish moved. All the fish were thrown back, so they couldn’t have weighed them. How marvelous that Bob had his phone with him and thought to take the photo!

The next day Logan wasn’t around when Bob talked about the trip. He said they were in the boat near trees on the bank, and he told his son it would be a mess if he got hung up in the trees. It was amazing that Logan cast sideways with great accuracy, avoiding those hanging branches every time. It was such a delight for me to hear the pride in Bob’s voice. Oh! If only all boys had fathers who were proud their sons!