I had a friend when I was younger who loved autumn. She would
call and say, "Let's go Octobering." It meant she wanted to go for a
walk somewhere she could kick leaves. Or even roll in them. That was
50 years ago but I'm sure she is still "Octobering". She's probably
given up rolling in the leaves.
The other day my friend and neighbor Bandon Reynolds at Lake
Sheila arrived at my house in her golf cart, She insisted that I
needed a ride to the top of the world...or at least the top out this
way.
I'm not too mobile since I had a stroke a while back, but she
managed to get me stuffed into the golf cart. She said it was going
to be cold, and it was. You could feel the temperature dropping as we
went higher and higher up Tanglewood Drive.
We parked when we got to the top because you have a panoramic view of Lake
Sheila below and the countryside. It was a blaze of color and a
magnificent view.
I decided years ago that I was the kind of person who wanted to live
down below by the lake looking up and not the kind who wanted to live
high up, looking down.
I was happy to get my "Octobering" in before I had to turn the
calendar page
I usually have a few pumpkins around to remind me of the season.
But since I have to walk with the aid of a cane now, I still have not
figured out how to carry a pumpkin and walk with my cane. I can
barely get my groceries from the car into the house.
I remember fondly taking my children---and then my
grandchildren---to the pumpkin patch to get our Halloween pumpkins.
The first year I took my two granddaughters, Michelle who was five
said, "These pumpkins don't have faces."
I had to explain that the faces didn't grow on them,,,you had to take
a knife and cut the eyes, nose and a toothy smile.
She was quick to answer, "Our Mom doesn't allow us to have
knives." Her sister said, "We can draw faces on them with Magic
Makers. So that's how we did it. The pumpins weren't nearly as scary
but there's enough scary stuff in the world already. Don't you agree?
