I was reading "Traveling Mercies" by Anne Lamott while waiting for my maintenance check-up on my Prius in a waiting room of all women. It occurs to me that auto mechanics would have an easy time meeting women.

Anyway, three of the waiting women were deep in an animated conversation about Christmas shopping and the pathetic stories on some scandal courtroom show playing for our unnecessary entertainment. I had planned ahead and was looking forward to 45 minutes of reading time, although the cheerful women and sorry stories unraveling on the little television were quite distracting.

I am reading a book I selected from my shelf full of books loaned and passed to me by friends who thought I would like this one. It's a shelf teeming with "ought-to-reads." This particular book first belonged to my friend Julie, who wrote in the margins and highlighted several passages. It is like the old days of book club, "hearing" her comments and reactions.

I am loving this book. In fact I snort-laughed at one point in the waiting room, causing a flicker in the room's conversation. I can't quote a short passage because you wouldn't have the momentum that builds to a snort.

I love snort-laughter. When was the last time you laughed that well?

I learned on my urban dictionary word of the day that today is Cyber Monday. Can you guess what that is?

The Monday after Black Friday when everyone gets on-line after trudging through Friday's crowds and not getting the job done.

I shop on-line often enough to get a barrage of Christmas catalogs. I bet I'm averaging seven a day.

Who are some on-line/mail order merchants you have had luck with in the past?

I must've heard a dozen sources say that this fall would be quick and brown due to the drought conditions of the earlier fall.
They were clearly wrong. The colors this fall have been spectacular. I drive around in awe. The kids and I keep pointing out trees to each other.
"Look at that one!"

This picture is one of my favorite places on earth. We simply call it the tree tunnel. My kids & I climbed into one for our family portrait (which I don't have in digital format.) Every time I drive through the tree tunnel, I wish I had my camera. Although I was a day or two past peek, here's what it looked like today.


I love the Greek mythology explaining the seasons: that the autumn colors were Ceres' last hurrah before her daughter Persephone, had to go spend a few months a year in Hades, although it is a little sad and unfair.

Life goes in cycles like that, doesn't it? Things are going along well, getting more beautiful by the day, and before you know what happened, things seem to be past peak. A time of barren dormancy is coming. You can feel it in the wind. But that is just really making way for a new beginning, not too far off, but easy to forget about when it's freezing.

One of my favorite quotes is
"To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with Spring." -George Santayana

I accidentally cleaned my shed today. I hadn't meant to, but I was looking for something in there. Summer got shut down while I was recuperating. I see things were just thrown in.

I didn't go for very clean. I was not redecorating, just enough to make things accessible - and threw out a bunch of crap: broken water guns, flaky nerf balls, old brittle seat cushions.

I only spent about 20 minutes. It was wonderful to have a little give in my schedule today. It was great to have the strength in my own two feet.

If you had twenty minutes to clean part of your space, which room would it be?

I had my first aquatic physical therapy today. I thought it would be easier than the regular exercises, but I was wrong. I have my ankle on ice now, waiting for the ibuprophen to kick in.

Fortunately, the spirit of the group of people recovering in the warm therapy pool is positive & hopeful. The facility is in a sports club and the pool is surrounded by "glass" so there is lots of natural light. The club is back in the woods, which are all in their autumn finest right now.

Instead of counting my reps, I imagined that we were injured woodland fairies taking advantage of healing power of the early morning rain. Much better than five middle aged women whose bodies are backfiring on them, eh?

I have had a week of unexpected medical news this week.

On Wednesday evening, I accompanied my nephew to the ER for stitches in a finger that was spurting blood. Apparently you should not wave to people while operating power tools.

Then yesterday, I heard that follow-up lab work was necessary for my youngest. I suspected she might have mono and had insisted on blood work. The results, her doctor informed me, looked like she might have juvenile diabetes. She said she would call two hospitals while I pulled my daughter out of school for more bloodwork. When I heard "overnight in the hospital" and "insulin training," my hearing kind of went out of focus.

Diabetes isn't the worst thing that your kid can have, although I was "hoping" for mono. My mind was racing about immediate and long term problems that were posed by this possibility. So I prepared for the worst and hoped for the best - which fortunately I received.

The second tests were in the normal range, although further testing is necessary. The zebra was just a horse. With a few lurches, we were able to shift back into Plan A for the evening.
whew!
What a wild ride that was. I don't plan to get in line for that ride again.

My ears perked up tonight when my 12 year old son said,
"Mom, I don't know if I did something brave, or something stupid."

I agreed with him that there was a fine line between the two. He's embarking on those painful relationship lessons. Unfortunately, I am told that I have no helpful ideas or experience to share.

Have you ever done something that walked the fine line between brave & stupid?