BOO!

Click for a good laugh!

Well, our weather’s turned out great for trick-or-treating ~ 70 degrees and sunny. We no longer get the caravan of kids we once did. Our neighborhood is maturing and most of the kids are in high school or college now. Nevertheless, we’re armed with 200 pieces of candy. One way or another, I’m sure they will disappear.

This is one of my favorite childhood pictures. It was 1961; I was five years old, dressed as a ghost in a white bed sheet. I remember always wanting a store-bought costume, but Mom made us do with whatever we could scrounge up at home. Maybe it’s just the memories it conjures up, but there’s something about this photograph that seems so indicative of that era. It's like watching an episode of "Mad Men."

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Words Fail

“The frost is on the pumpkin” and I’m bundled in blankets against the morning chill, trying to fight the urge to turn up the thermostat. Several weeks of cool autumn weather have led to spectacular fall colors.

Our Burning Bush is ablaze with fuchsia leaves... fuchsia!

We have two Autumn Purple Ash trees, whose changing colors take my breath away. The outer leaves turn deep red or purple, while the inner leaves remain golden yellow. The effect is hard to capture in a photo, but when the sun shines through, the trees seem to glow from within.

Its leaves are my absolute favorite color ~ more than amber or bronze, copper or russet. The trouble with fall colors is how hard they are to name.

Words just seem inadequate for colors that last only one or two October weeks. It's like trying to describe fireworks or a sunset, as the colors change, second by second and minute by minute. All I can do is gasp! Instead of a word, an exclamation is the best I can offer.

That's okay with me. I know it when I see it. Those singular, nameless colors of autumn are my very favorites!

A few years ago, the Ash trees had an extraordinary showing of color. You know what? They've never turned that particular shade again.

College Daze

I haven’t been at the computer much lately. My laptop has been commandeered by the family for the college selection process. When I finally get my turn at the keyboard, all I seem to do is read other people’s blogs. It’s so much easier than tasking my brain to write something clever myself!

When last I posted, Lily from Block-a-day commented on a piece of needlework in the background of my photo. It's a needlepoint that goes as far back as our own college days.

My husband started a graduate program at the 
University of North Caroline, shortly after we marriaged.

We left our familiar life in the Midwest,

and the comforting support of family and friends,

to journey southward,


where the countryside was strange (it wasn’t flat)


and people spoke with a drawl (ya’ll).


I bought this needlepoint canvas and tried 
stitching my way out of being homesick during
the three years we lived in North Carolina.