Autumn's Splender

Here are some photos that I took on a wonderfully crisp fall day. Some are on my lawn and some very close to my house.

a poem that I wrote today

If you have read my list of 50 things that you may not know about me. You will know that my brothers, sisters, mother, father and best friend have all passed away.
In reference to this, the poem is about a place in my mind that I don't allow myself to visit very often.

Midnight Blue

Wandering in the midnight blue,
My unplanned thoughts return to you.
Heedlessly walking in the dead of the night,
My eyes behold a dreary sight.
Peering through the murky gloom,
I see your name upon the tomb.
I thrust my fists up in the sky,
Cursing the gods and asking why.
I'm all alone and thinking of you,
When I'm wandering in the midnight blue.

my beautiful daughter and I at the beach

A Funny Memory

We used to have this guy nicknamed Chrometooth who lived up in the country where I was brought up. He was a halfwit who had the reputation of being the best thief in New York State. My brother owned a junkyard and sold parts to the locals who needed them. If my brother had to bend over a car to get a part out while Chrometooth was there, he would make Chrometooth clap his hands continuously so he couldn't steal anything. I hesitate to tell you what happened when he stopped clapping. Needless to say he never stopped clapping again. I was a teenager at the time and I used to think it was hilarious.
One day the police got a tip that Chrometooth was going to break into a summer cabin.
Early in the dark of a rainy chilly morning the sherriffs deputies crept though the woods to stake out the summer home. They waited through the morning...cold wet and damp. The noon hour passed and still no sign of him. As dark approached the tired,hungry, wet and disappointed deputies took the long walk back to their hidden car. All they could think about was food and getting into dry clothes. When they opened the car they couldn't believe their eyes....Chrometooth had stolen their seats.

beauty

One of Life's most embarassing embarrasing moments

I was always a big garagesale person. When my daughter was little I used to give her $3 and we'd both go. This all happened whan she was about 4 or 5.
I went to this garage sale and looked around. I spotted a table off to the side where a very elderly woman was sitting. The only thing on her table was hankies. I went to look at them and they were some of the most beautiful handcrafted works of art that I had ever seen. I asked her if they were for sale and she said she didn't know. I started looking at them and I said how beautiful that they were. She preceded to tell me that her mother had made them (this lady looked to be in her 90's) She said that back them woman didn't work and they only way that they had to compete was in their cooking, canning and sewing. They used to make the hankies, all hand done some with embroidery to look like an entire scene, some with real handmade tatted lace, etc. They would go to church and hold them in their hand with the edge hanging over so everyone could see them. I'm telling you they were gorgeous. I talked with this woman for a good while and said I'm not going to buy them, they meant too much to her and I suggested that she might want to pass them down to someone in her family. She said she was married for over 50 years and as much as she wanted children they had never had them. So she had no one to pass them on to. I suggested neices, friends the historical society. She said she didn't have another living relative and she now wanted me to buy them. I said how much would you like. She said from you? 25 cents a piece. I said I couldn't give her that little for something which was so beautiful and meant so much to her. She said she just wanted someone who would appreciate them to enjoy them as much as she had. I asked her if she had any pets and she had a cat that was adored and she felt was her family. I asked her if she would mind giving me a stranger her name and address so I could either buy something for her cat or donate something to SCATS ( a volunteer society that takes care of stray cats). She said that would be fine. She probably had about 20 hankies. I told her that I would take only 5 so that she could give some to somebody else if she chose. I took the 5 and my daughter said to the lady...they are so beautiful. The lady said, You are one of the best behaved little girls I've seen. Your mother and I have talked for a long time and you never said anything and are very polite. Would you like to pick 1 hankerchief. my daughter said. YES! She let her pick out the hankie and then handed it to her. Ashley looked at it admiringly...then promptly blew her nose on it. OMG I was mortified.