Autumn in Vineland, Ontario

Hello folks. Thank you to sweet friends and family who sent birthday messages. I loved and appreciated all of them. It's a lovely feeling to hear one message after another of people telling you they love you! More than one of you made me cry, which I suppose isn't a novelty for me. Anyhow, thanks to Garrison Keillor's writer's almanac, I discovered that I share a birthday with William Faulker, who, come to find out, failed his first college English course, and was fired from his first job at a bookstore for telling his customers that the books they were buying were "trash." Well, I guess that can serve as an encouragement to my fellow wanderers, who aren't quite sure where life is leading...Speaking of Faulkner, the sound and the fury of autumn are in full swing. Here are some lovely pics from a weekend in Canada. Driving through the fields and the farmland is remarkable; the air is calm and living, and the colors all seem bright and crisp. The deep blaze of autumn is setting in; its warmth and bronzed palate are a welcome sight. Enjoy the rest of the week, and for goodness' sake, go outside and drink in this season!

A Walk With My Nikon

Today I went on my first walk with my new camera. She's a beauty- the true, one and only camera of my dreams! Here's a bit of what we found:

Zuzu's Petals

I'm sick tonight. I woke up at the horrid hour of 6 a.m. for a day shift at work, and left the house on my bike at 6:30, my hair still wet. Perhaps that's what did it, but I'm home tonight with a very sore throat. I feel like Zuzu from "It's a Wonderful Life." I wanted to get up and do the dishes, but my sweet husband wouldn't let me move a muscle. He insisted that I stay planted on the couch with my book (A New Song- the 5th in the Mitford series), while he brought me tea, throat lozenges, and Vitamin C. Then, before I finished Chapter 11, he called me to come to the dinner table. He had made scrambled eggs, toast with my favorite French jam, and set out tea for two. He even set out the milk in my favorite little blue creamer. It was lovely, and my throat even seems to feel a bit better. I thank God for a husband who knows and shares my delight in small pleasures. Tea for two and milk in a little blue creamer turned my evening of self-pity into a cozy night.

The Van Wyck Family Singers!

The days are officially chilly now... I was just taking a look back at the beach pics from our vacation with the Van Wycks (Manasquan, NJ), and all of a sudden, I'm realizing that summer is over for another year. It's amazing how the years fly by. I'll be 26 in a few days, which my A&P prof. repeatedly told me, is the year that a female's body starts to go downhill (biologically). Our bones don't repair themselves as easily as in the days of yore, and osteoporosis settles in. Sigh.

Well, I also officially just burned another banana bread. I'm such a ridiculous cook. I get so sidetracked that I forget half the things I start. Thus, my once boiling kettle is now cold on the stove, my banana bread is blackened around the edges (hopefully still salvageable), and my pile of half written letters is staring me in the face.

On a more cheerful note, I spent the morning biking with a friend. It was a beautiful ride, albeit somewhat more rowdy than I had envisioned. I was imagining a lovely little bike through the countryside, perhaps a stop at a corner store for some ice cream.... When she offered me a helmet, I kind of chuckled inside, and said with a smile, "No, thanks, I'm sure I'll be just fine." Well, little did I know, this cute little nurse turned out to be a BMX biker with no little to no fear. Being the sport I am, I followed her without complaining, but as we careened down those bike hills at a terrifying speed, I prayed frantically and wished I had taken her up on her offer. All in all, it was exhilarating, exciting, and my legs are incredibly sore! Not bad for a Monday morning.

Jacob and Autumn

Jacob Donovan! We're so excited to have a nephew. Wendy and Daryl are wonderful parents. He's growing like crazy- off the charts in height and weight ('atta boy!). James and I got to spend a few days with him at the shore last week, and we just couldn't get enough of him! He's a little snugglebug!

Whew...I am so glad to have finished that race. Yahoo!!! I completed it in 1 hr. 34 minutes. I had hoped to break an hour and a half, but in the end, I was just thrilled to have finished the race! It was tougher than I thought it would be...9.2 miles is a long, long way to run. My legs feel something like Gumby legs today, and my poor toes are just crying! Anyhow, it's September 4th, and we're off, launching right into autumn. I am so thankful for the cooler days and the fall breeze! This is by far my favorite season...I love the warm, blazing autumn colors at the farmer's market- gold, maroon, and deep orange mums for sale (did you know that the word 'mum' is short for 'chrysanthemum'? Would you believe, I never knew that! What a discovery! The only reason I can actually spell 'chrysanthemum' is because Anne spelled it correctly in Mr. Phillips' spelling bee, beating Gilbert! Anne of Green Gables is always applicable to life in general.) Anyhow, here we are, Oliver and I, hanging out in our little apartment with the windows open, smelling the fall air. Actually I think I'm smelling his litterbox. Gross. Time to take care of that!
School starts today for me; James started last week. He already has a presentation this Thursday- this is his last semester of the Master's program! I'm so proud of him. He's is almost a MASTER of ENGLISH. Wow. How does anyone get to be called a Master of anything? Well, I'm taking a horrible Statistics course this fall, which I despise already. I don't want to know about charts or variables. Ugh. I'm mad just thinking about it. I'm also taking a pretty easy psychology course, which should be remotely interesting. I'm glad to have a reprieve from Anatomy and Physiology courses, so that I can work, work, work, all through September, and save up some money. Yes, I can feel it in my bones: chrysanthemums and chilly nights- this autumn is going to be a good one.