AUTUMN BEFORE THE FALL

THE WINDS WERE HEAVY ENOUGH THE OTHER NIGHT FOR NEWS OF THE DESTRUCTION TO REACH AS FAR AS ALASKA.  OUR COMMUNITY WAS FORTUNATE.....A FENCE DOWN HERE, FALLEN BRANCHES THERE. IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD IT BLEW ALL THE BEAUTIFUL LEAVES OFF OF THE TREES AND NOW IT FEELS AS THOUGH WINTER IS TRULY HERE. 

SOME NEIGHBORING CITIES ARE STILL WITHOUT POWER.

THIS YEAR'S AUTUMN BEAUTY IS  BUT A MEMORY.

LUCK OF THE DRAW

" 

THE MORNING was chilly. The rain-dampened sidewalks dried in time for the invited pastors to assemble for lunch at the Manor and the dining room was filled with people of the cloth. Pray tell, where were the residents to dine? Downstairs, that's where. Tables had been set up, part of the kitchen crew were serving.......dinner went off without a hitch.

  

The special Manor salad was followed by pork loin garnished with apple slices, roasted potatoes and a medley of vegetables. Dessert was a maple pumpkin cheesecake topped with almond brittle. Sigh....................


Each table held two centerpieces of posies in the colors of autumn which were raffled off after we ate. Mr. Bob was one of the lucky winners, such a rarity for us. Aside from the bi-weekly Bingo evenings, we've rarely been prize winners.

The Powers That Be could have just told us they were sorry for the inconvenience; instead, each place setting had a note of thanks signed by the executive director and the CEO along with a golden box holding one delicious chocolate truffle.

There were a lot of centerpieces to be won and by the time Cindy got to the grand prize, I wasn't paying much attention. Somehow the winning number penetrated my subconscious. Did she say "4-9-3"?
It didn't seem within the realm of possibility but sure enough, that was the number on my ticket. I'd won a catered dinner for up to ten people!

It's a sign to me that, high risk or not, I HAVE to come through my Halloween surgery, somewhat intact, to collect my winnings.

"Forget the lottery. 

Bet on yourself instead."

                                                                         Brian Koslow

NEW ENGLAND REPORT

BROTHER FRANK TO THE RESCUE ........Just as I was wondering what in the world to write about today and had just about given up, an email arrived with these pictures attached to it.

Photos taken this morning back East  (Western Massachusetts) -- another amazing display thanks to Fred Harwood. 

It brought to mind the two times I've been in New England to witness fall foliage. Once was with a church group. You know how flu can strike you ill suddenly in one moment? That happened to me during lunch one day on the trip and I spent the next two days with my head in Mr. Bob's lap as our bus traveled along country lanes. Every time I opened my eyes it was to the surreal view of passing through a tunnel of blazing red maple leaves. That was the same trip where I saw a Japanese tourist innocently stir his breakfast coffee with a knife. In New York City we were put up in a hotel in the midst of renovations. It was the only time I've ever known Mr. Bob to sleep with his wallet under his pillow. All through the night I heard the bell ring every fifteen minutes on the elevator outside our door and groaning sounds coming from the room on the other side of the wall. The next morning it all made sense when I caught sight of a pair of men's underwear in the standing ashtray. 


It was on the same vacation that as we walked to our hotel after dinner, a teenager snatched a gold necklace off a lady's neck and Mr. Bob took pursuit on foot losing the race, of course, as he was no match for a street smart New York hoodlum. He declined the next time an opportunity to go to the Big Apple arose.

The other autumn trip was  a cruise from Montreal through the Maritime Provinces around to New York City, with a stop in Bar Harbor, Maine. The fall colors absolutely blazed in that little community and I remember after a tour of Acadia National Park, walking into town as the small shops were preparing to close for the winter (what an attractive idea to a retailer!) and we ate delicious lobster rolls in an upstairs room of a restaurant. 


That was in the days of film and any pictures we took are hidden too far away to find. I'm really very tired of our 30,892 photos that live currently on our computer. One of these days I must master the scanner which came housed inside the sophisticated printer Mr. Bob chose to buy when our old one gave out. Then we'll have something new to view and won't that be a nice change?


"Each man reads his own meaning into New York."                                                     
                   Meyer Berger