Half full/half empty?

Like the chai in my cup, my over-committed week is half done... all that's left is one volunteer job, two classes, stacks of papers to grade, a horse show to ride - then ahhh! Sunday - a catchup and get ready day before the next over-committed week begins.

I read the news today...

When fixing onions I lay out the classified section of the paper for the peels. Today I noticed one interesting ad - then another - yes, I read them all. It was fascinating. Here are some of my finds:That is a really BIG ring. Where do you suppose they put the shelving?
There's a story here - they took the tires off the car before they sold it? How'd the buyer drive it away? (Yes, I noticed the BBQ dress above it - I guess there's a special attire for such events)
I've heard of the mother ship...
Now there's an important detail. Who would want a used crypt?

It was an omen

Finding a flock of turkey vultures in the trees above us should have tipped me off. It was clearly a sign. But I didn't make a connection - I was just trying to get a picture that showed the size of them and the dramatic way they hunched over as they perched.

The vultures lumbered into the air as we approached and circled over us as we walked down through the quarries.

It didn't occur to me until later that it was a warning. Maybe if they'd shouted "Take off the backpack!" I would have gotten it.
I didn't guess that the whole time we were hiking small critters were creeping out of the backpack I borrowed, tunneling through my tee shirt, and gnawing up my skin.
After three sleepless nights of unrelenting itchiness, you won't catch me ignoring an obvious omen again!

Return to the farm, part two

The quarries hold the eye at any time of year, but in the Fall they seem especially dramatic.

Those tiny specks on the water are a huge flock of geese swimming madly away from us. Can you see the buzzards soaring overhead?
We walked all the way around the upper quarry to look back at the cliff where we first stood.
Then we went down to the lower quarry, quiet and mysterious behind the trees.
Mimi gathered juniper with frosty blue berries to go with the bright orange bittersweet we cut.
I was surprised to find the rock piles overgrown with sycamore and sumac. I remember climbing over stacks of naked limestone with little kids and a furry black terrier - running up hills of discarded, crushed stone - all of it now grown into woods.
Granddad waited patiently back at the house for us, watching down the driveway.
He knew lunch wouldn't be served until we returned. And there's nothing better than a farmhouse lunch with fresh tomatoes and corn and crisp apples.

As we gathered pears to carry home, we wished you all could have been there with us.

Return to the farm, part one

Last Spring Mimi and I had the first "picnic" of the year at the farm. Today we returned for a Fall "picnic". The day was overcast and warm, the leaves soft and muted colors.
The old pear that amazed us in the spring with blossoms -

(and still so hollow at the foot that one can't see how it stands up)
now amazes us with a bounty of pears.
Granddad sat on the porch swing and swung (the cane is useful for pushing one back and forth). Socks kept him company.
Mimi and I took off for the hills
and, just where we found morels last spring, we found another well concealed treasure. This one we did not carry home with us!

Found in a book

A sweet thought, found in a returned library book-

Not to be left out

It started with the Bloomingtonauts' piles of books (wouldn't you know it?). Then Dr. Hausfrau took it up with a humorous twist. The Pless People used this unusual art form to make an important announcement. So, of course, I have to try my hand at it - book stacks in which the titles of the books make little poems or stories. Perfect activity for a librarian.

I began with a little meditation on the end of summer...
then one on having company...
and one on giving one's children advice.

I don't want to tell you how long it took me to sort out these books, or how many more piles I have all over the living room...oh, and one other thing I noticed - how come everyone else has a clean, empty bookshelf to pose their book piles on???

At arm's length

Remember going to the mall or to that game arcade - what was it called? Space Port? - and there were little booths that took your picture? You put so many quarters in a slot and sat inside making faces and acting silly while the camera strobed. A few minutes later a strip of rididulous portraits shot out of a slot.

I was thinking about this after seeing a post from Dr. Hausfrau. What ever happened to those photo booths, I wondered? Now I wonder no more. My personal Technology Guy spent an afternoon hanging out with me and explained it all. Now you just hold your i-phone or digital camera at arms length and snap yourself.

The results are just as awful.

Autumn ornaments

I have been enjoying a series of small celebrations - a fine formula of good things to eat, good people to eat with, and an accompaniment of gifts... Recently HoosierKitty and I celebrated at Roots with a yummy meal
and I unwrapped a lovely present. Ooooh. Thank you!

This came all the way from Volterra in Italy.
Just look how translucent the alabaster is! And the delicate veining!

I had to look up the process of working this wonderful stone at the http://www.alialabastro.com/ website. I feel so Etruscan with my alabaster urn - thanks to Dr. Haufrau et al!
Then in the mail from The Bloomingtonauts came another treasure -

a handblown crinkle-glass pitcher in just the right seasonal color to display right now.

It's good to have an Autumn birthday.

Two-fer

It's a DOUBLE birthday Two birthdays on one day -

makes it a very special day.

Hope it was happy!

Music in the night

The Lotus World Music Festival comes every fall - this year on a perfect October weekend, one with clear skies and crisp air. We had two evenings of music, walking through the crowded downtown streets from one performance to another.

Part of the fun is waiting in line as you skip from Mali blues to Norwegian fiddle music, hearing a bit of a set here and a bit of a set there.

As we listened to La Musgaña (the water rat) play traditional tunes and songs of the Castilian countryside, we thought about the days when two of you were looking for music that combined accordian and violin.

One of the best things about Lotus? Finding unexpected friends in the audience. They were waiting for the same thing we were - Solas.

What is a banjo doing in "one of the world's best Irish folk music groups"??? And why wasn't there more flute? It didn't matter - the sound was mesmerizing.

We stayed for the whole set.

Oct. 3

"When I was One,

I had just begun..." (A.A. Milne)

Six decades later and I still feel as if I'm at the beginning...

Lingering at the Winery

Besides the masses of grapes, and the profusion of pumpkins,
the Winery was densely planted with wonderful blooms.
They were carefully designed for seasonal colors.
Note that pinkish-orange-ish blossom in the midst of the garden.

Peeking through the dwarf conifers -
there's a giant limestone frog below a double waterfall.
There was a lot of limestone,
decorating the garden walks.

And with one thing and another, it was easy to spend a whole afternoon lingering there.

Picnic with Wine

On a moist Autumn day when the woods were too wet for walking, we decided to picnic at the Winery.

Flowers and pumpkins abounded,and the vines were full of grapes both white
and red, all plump and ready to harvest.Mimi packed the lunch and set the table
for a fine little picnic.
Granddad checked out the wine and we had lots of servings of fruit.
We had a jolly time...

and carried several bottles home with us for the next picnic.