The Third Thing

Have you heard that expression that bad things happen in threes? I'm not a superstitious person, but it does seem to happen that way. Sometimes just one bad thing happens, but if a second one happens, a third always seems to follow.

This morning, a friend of mine told me that her washing machine broke down last week. She was told it would be more expensive to fix than replace. This weekend, their fridge broke down. They decided to replace that too, but were told that the one they wanted would take two to three weeks to arrive. A family of four cannot live out of coolers for that long. They chose one that was in stock, and went with their truck to pick it up. Their truck broke down in the parking lot. Their luck will change now. It's the power of three.

I'm trying to figure out if I've had my three or if I've got another coming. My sister in law was diagnosed with breast cancer and my uncle died. My plantar faciitis doesn't equal those in severity, so I'm not sure if things will turn up yet or not.

I apologize for this gloomy, doomsday posting, but I think I'm going to feel a little down for a few days. Rest assured, I will rally. I always do. I wouldn't post at all, but if I want my free lip balm through NaBloWriMo, I have to post everyday.

Foliage Tour

My uncle died this morning, so I'm not in a state of mind to write anything instructive, informative or entertaining. I thought it would be a good day to take you on a fall foliage tour. Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

The view from Pipsqueak's bedroom window.

A long and winding road.

A long and straight road.

Taken through a peek-hole in a covered bridge.

Tall and majestic.

Almost home.

The view from our deck.

The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned, I'll put a trinket on.

- Emily Dickinson, Nature XXVII, Autumn.

Something I'd Never Considered...

Do you know if your dentist is mercury free? Being the picayune that I am, I think the sign should have read "mercury free dentistry". After all, I don't really care if my dentist eats a tuna fish sandwich every day.

Disclaimer: This is not my dentist, and I have not had mine tested for mercury, lead, asbestos or any other poisonous and potentially deadly elements.

Vermont's Only (?) Rain Forest

On Sunday, I snuck away for awhile in the morning to help Pipsqueak's teacher, Mrs. W secretly transform a corner of the classroom into a Costa Rican rain forest. Mrs. W went to Costa Rica this summer for 12 days on a tour organized by the University of Vermont. She plans to teach the students about it over several weeks, covering culture, food, environment, wildlife and more. She asked Walmart and Home Depot for plant donations and they were very generous.

It took us about an hour to move in the plants, arrange everything and add a few plastic lizards, snakes and insects. Mrs. W had a white noise machine/fountain that play rain forest sounds. We threw a few pillows around, so the children can sit in the rain forest to read. It looked like so much fun that I wanted to be back in school again.

We are so lucky to have this wonderful public school. There are approximately 350 students in K-8, are there is a small-town, folksy feel there, yet they have modern, non-mainstream ideas. For instance, Pipsqueak is in first grade in a multi-age class (K-2). She'll be in the same room with the same teacher for three years. Then they have looping third and fourth grade, and fifth and sixth grades which means the students have the same teacher two years in a row.

Pipsqueak loves school and can't wait to get there every morning. Monday morning was a special one to see the excitement of all her classmates when they came in and saw this.

This is the only today we'll ever have!

I've spent some time appreciating life today.

My 84 year old uncle isn't doing well. It's amazing that he's lived this long since he's had five heart attacks, several mini-strokes and only 30% of his heart is functioning. But up until the past few days, he's had good quality of life. Yesterday he said he wished he would die. I find that astounding! I can't imagine being okay with dying, let alone wishing it would happen. I've got too many books too read and too much yarn stash to knit. How bad would it have to get before I wanted to die? Well, maybe if I couldn't read or knit, but even then, I don't know.

The elderly seem to have this acceptance of death that I can't get my head wrapped around. I wonder if there's something that happens in the brain at around age 70 that makes people comfortable with the idea that they won't be around forever. I wonder if I'll ever get comfortable with it, or will I fight it tooth and nail right to my death bed.

I don't have many fears... really only three: falling, bathrooms without windows (I'll explain that another time) and death. I think I love living too much (is that possible?) and there are so many things I want to try and do. I love the change in seasons, and I can't imagine not seeing the next one. I want to see my daughter's children and maybe their children. I really wouldn't have to do anything different; I could just keep living the way I do now, and I'm happy to just exist in these surroundings doing what I do.

When filling out a Living Will, I feel torn. While I wouldn't want to be kept alive artificially, I don't want to die either. I told Sweetie that if I'm ever in a coma to lean down right next to my ear and shout loudly, "Wake up!!!!" I'm sure if my brain is working at all, I'll give him a sign... an eyelid flutter, a twitch, something.

Since I fear death, I try not to spend a lot of time thinking about it. I'd rather spend the time thinking about how great it is to be alive... to feel the warmth of a hug, to smell food cooking, to hear my daughter's laughter, to taste... well... almost anything. We'd should all spend more time celebrating life and being present in the moment. We usually rush through our days getting from one chore or activity to another, but we should stop to really savor the taste of our food, listen to the birds, and linger a moment over that hug or kiss.

Fall Decoration

I don't do much Halloween decorating since we live out in the sticks, but there are a couple of things I do every year...

I plant mums in the deck urns and put our home grown pumpkins around them. Monty, our Welsh Corgi, thought the pumpkins were some new chew toys for him, and he took a big bite out of the back of one before I could set him straight on the matter.

I also put a dish of candy corn on the table. The dish never stays full very long since the whole family is nuts for candy corn. A few years ago Brachs brand added honey to their recipe, but this year we discovered Jelly Belly brand with no honey. It's a much cleaner taste without the cloying sweetness. They are a bit smaller though, so it's difficult to tuck them under my upper lip for vampire teeth or yellow buck teeth. It's hard to choose... flavor or fun?

How Do You Like Them Apples?

I can't believe it's Tuesday and I'm still writing about the weekend, but it was jam packed with activity. That's the way it is around here this time of year. It's the last blast of activity outside before we all retreat inside our warm and cozy houses, not to be seen again until sometime in March.

After we saw Judy Pancoast's concert on Saturday, we were headed to Billings Farm in Woodstock, Vermont, but I got distracted in Quechee, Vermont by a sign for a craft fair at Quechee Gorge Village. I love to go to craft fairs to harvest ideas for my own crafting. This one yielded a great idea of glass painting. This vendor had beautiful, yet simple painted glassware. I thought, "I could do that!" We'll see if I actually do.

Pipsqueak has been asking to ride the train there for years, but it runs infrequently. When she heard it chugging along the track while we were there, I couldn't say no. We had plenty of giggles about the bumpiness. I wondered if I had any loose fillings after that.

After our one hour diversion, we were back on our way to Billings Farm for the Apple and Pumpkin Festival. They had a table showing representative apples from every variety,

apple cider pressing,

apples on a string,

hand cranked pumpkin ice cream,

wagon rides and more.

We went home exhausted, but happy and fulfilled from a great "mommy and me" day.