Here's to a brand new year

Beautiful Lily with a toast to the last day of 2019

I have just returned home after a day out and about. I walked to the bus this morning in the dark, in the horizontal rain and blowing wind. After spending some time at the coffee shop and then the gym, I headed home in order to go out yet again, to enjoy lunch with my friend Lily before my appointment with the acupuncturist.

Between my delightful visit to the chiropractor and his teddy bear yesterday, and the needles carefully placed in my hindquarters today, I am pleased to report that my sacroiliac is happy and at peace, along with the rest of me. Although it looks like snow outside that window, it's only a trick of the light: it's simply rain, lots and lots of it. Mild temperatures, too, relatively speaking.

Tomorrow we begin a new year, a new beginning, and I'm hoping, along with much of the rest of the world, for a more peaceful and gentle time ahead. And I am thrilled that I get to share my own little corner of the world with my fellow bloggers, as well as friends and family who brighten every single day.

As I quaff my last glass of wine of the decade, I raise it to a bright and shining future, which can be anything we wish. We have it within us to do that.
:-)

A dark day on Blanchard Mountain

Walking to Lizard Lake

First of all, let me say that I guess I will continue to put up posts after our Senior Trailblazer hikes, because I really enjoy both the workouts and the ability to chronicle our adventures. It amazed me to see that fourteen of us showed up on a wet dreary day to hike up to Lily and Lizard Lakes.

We met at the Upper Trailhead on Blanchard Mountain and hiked up to Lizard Lake first. We do have a few trail options on the mountain, and we knew it would be a wet one, considering the forecast. But I didn't realize how dark it would be among the trees. I could have used my headlamp most of the day, it was that dark.

Lizard Lake

By the time we got to Lizard Lake, the light rain had almost stopped for the moment. It was still early, so after a short stop, we made our way to Lily Lake. We thought about stopping here, or maybe even having another two-lunch day, but we decided against it.

Melanie capturing some good shots

It was not a great day for photos, but I did get a few good ones. This shows Mel in her element, dressed for the weather and using her phone (which she kept a close eye on, after almost losing it last week).

Lily Lake (Mel's picture)

Since we were all struggling to stay warm as we stopped for lunch, most of us pulled out all our extra clothing and bundled up before starting to eat.

Today's lunch spot

From this spot, we are looking out at the lake as you see in the above picture, but the darkness and lack of sun made us much more interested in what everybody was having to eat. Some people pack a fancy lunch, while others bring energy bars and more utilitarian fare. I often bring something from the salad bar at the Food Co-op, sort of in between the two.

Time to head back

By the time we packed everything back up, everybody was getting cold, so we decided just to take ourselves back the way we had come, rather than adding any more to make the trip longer. It was not raining at the moment, and we considered that an eight-mile day, with around 1,700 feet up and down, would keep most of us happy until next week.

Although it wasn't what I would have actually desired for our hiking day, it turned out to be exceptionally enjoyable anyway, with all of us dressed properly for the conditions, and lots of good company as well. It was just the best way to while away the hours on a dark and rainy late fall day.

I am still trying to decide what to do about the other days that I usually post on this blog, Tuesdays and Saturdays. I am not quite ready to make a decision about the next steps, but it sure does feel good to take this break, if that is what it really is. Maybe I'll find some direction that would capture my interest for those days. Any ideas?
:-)

Busy Tuesday

Our coffee group this morning

This morning at Avellino's, my coffee shop of choice, we had all six seats around the community table filled with this motley assortment of people. Me, John, Gene, Teresa, Roger, and Tim. We all enjoyed our usual coffee and scintillating conversation, and then I realized I had stayed longer than usual and was in danger of missing my exercise class. I didn't, however, as I was able to hustle out the door a little faster than I have been. I'm slowly getting better.

After the class, I headed to Fairhaven for my usual 11:00 yoga class. I was pleased to find that several poses that were beyond me last week are now getting easier to accomplish. Then a trip to my acupuncturist for another round of needles. It never fails, I leave there feeling much better, although I definitely have a love/hate relationship with the needles going in. Most are just a little pinprick, but some give me zingers that last for seconds before settling down. He offers to take them out if it's too much, but heck, if I suffer through their placement, I'm going to enjoy the effects later on.

I would say I am probably 75% returned to normal, and I have been told by Warren (the acupuncture guy) to continue to limit my exercise to 15 minutes at a time. I told him I've been stopping at 20 minutes, and he says that if he told me 20, I'd go for 30. (In other words, he figures I'll always overdo a little bit. He knows me by now.)

Then I came home and am presently finishing my final task for the day: a post. Now I can pick up my latest book and bury my nose in it.
:-)

Spooky Halloween faces

My new hairdo

I've been having fun with the Messenger app from Facebook, giving myself a couple of new looks. It's interesting how well these apps work to make whoever is playing with them look so, well, different from their usual appearance. Some of them are so complete, they don't even look anything remotely like the person. In the above picture, at least you can tell it's me; maybe it's the forked tongue that gives it away.

Yeah, it's me

But this one? if I didn't know it was me, I wouldn't know it was me. I think it's supposed to be the Bride of Frankenstein, but with all that makeup and those beauty spots, I'm completely unlike myself. The hair is a step up from the Medusa snakes, though, don't you think?

Happy Halloween!!
:-)

What is it about Tuesdays?

Playing with the app on Messenger

Well, here it is almost my bedtime, and I again forgot to write a Tuesday post. So, once I remembered, I put down my latest book and brought out the trusty laptop to write a quick and dirty post. Well, with that picture it's not so dirty, but still.

I think I'm ready to say that the Tuesday time slot is quickly beginning to drop off my radar. If I write one, fine, but if I don't, it's fine too. Given that the world of politics has lately also drawn me into reading the news more than I should, it's becoming obvious that there are other things taking my time away from thoughtful postings.

Maybe if I free myself from "shoulds" I can just go with the flow for a change.
:-)

Cute fawns and a Blogger fix

Two fawns following Mom

I finally captured a picture of the two fawns that I've seen around in our back yard lately. Usually I drive into the parking lot and see them, but by the time I've gotten out and tried to find them, they were gone. Yesterday I was successful. I wondered why the two, obviously siblings, are such different sizes. Must be because one is a boy and the other is a girl, don't you think? Anyway they are adorable. And hungry.

One of my blogging buddies sent me a post that has a fix for the pesky missing email notifications for when someone leaves you a comment. I tried it and it works just fine. I didn't even have to reboot my laptop to make it happen. Good luck! From that link:

Open your blog dashboard, that is where the compose button sits and all those buttons are on the left, along with the list of your posts, published and drafts. Go down to Settings and click Email. If you were receiving emails of blog comments, your email address will be there in the box next to 'Comment notification email'. Delete your email address within the box and at the top right, click 'Save Settings'. It has been suggested that you should close down and restart your computer. Do so if you wish. 

Then, go back to where you were at, Settings/Email and add your email address to the box 'Comment Notification Email' and again click Save Settings.You will receive an email and within the email there are two options. Select 'Subscribe'. Voila, you will now receive an email when someone comments on your blog. It may take a little time to start working though.

I did it for both of my blogs and it's fixed. Somehow you need to get rid of the old notification email, save it, and then add it again. Don't forget to subscribe once you get the email. Let me know if this works for you. Aren't friends just the best?
:-)

My yoga teacher and more

Erica getting ready to launch that leg forward

I asked my yoga teacher, Erica, if she would demonstrate for me how one is supposed to get one's leg in a forward lunge while doing the sun salutation. I simply cannot get it back far enough to manage to get it forward between my hands. But of course she does it without any problem. One day I'll do it, but it's gonna be awhile. For now, I can get it to land somewhere in the vicinity, and then I sneak it forward with my toes. One day.

In the meantime, I've been trying to figure out how to get around an annoying aspect of Blogger. Since last Friday, I have stopped receiving email notifications when somebody comments on one of my blogs. Nothing. Nada. So if I want to read or react to a comment, I must visit the latest post and see who's commented. I got on the blogger help forum and discovered this seems to be universal. But nothing from Blogger to suggest when (or if) it might be fixed. One person suggested the following:

I've learned a short-term (hopefully) fix for this. When writing a blog post, leave yourself a comment at the end and check the box that says "email follow-up notifications". You'll then receive notification of any comments that come after. If you like to respond to comments, you might notice that commenters come across as "no-reply" even when they aren't. You can click on the name of the commenter to come up with an email if one is available. Then, copy and paste into your response.

So, once I finish this post, I'll leave myself a comment and see if this works. It sure would make it easier, but it won't do anything for earlier posts. Grrr!

:-(

This is embarrassing

Dirty Dan hanging out in the rain

Yes, I know: this is yesterday's post, once again being composed on a Wednesday. At the coffee shop this morning, John said, "Hey, you didn't write a post yesterday." I was aware of that, but it wasn't until the middle of the night last night when I realized I had, once again, forgotten.

I snagged that picture of the statue of Dirty Dan, whose website tells me that he was considered the founder of Fairhaven, off of Facebook. I see this statue in various states, from covered with rain like this, to wearing a considerate woolen scarf when it's really cold, and in the summer he's been known to sport sunglasses. The birds like to sit with him sometimes, too.

Anyhow, this time next week I'll be with my sister Norma Jean, and hopefully I'll be enjoying the Y's outdoor pool with her. She swims more than a mile every weekday, but I'll be lucky to last for twenty minutes. Then I'll go inside and ride the stationary bicycle while I wait for her to finish. I looked at the weather ahead, and it looks like it will be in the mid-70s and just about perfect! Wish I could just transport myself there, but I'll be spending the entire day on Monday in travel mode.
:-)

Fly me to the moon

Astronomy Picture of the Day 17 Jan 17

This picture on today's Astronomy Picture of the Day, something I look at as part of my daily routine, is especially lovely, don't you think? You can go to the link under the picture for more information about who took it and why it's that color. Although there are most often pictures of galaxies and stellar nurseries on APOD, sometimes the pictures are closer to home. Like this one.

I don't really want to fly to the moon. Today's weather here in Bellingham is pretty much back to normal: rain last night, overcast today, and a warm wind from the south. In fact, the temperature has gone all the way up to 58°F (14.5°C) from the frigid cold and wind we've had around for what seems way too long. Yes, it was sunny, but it was COLD, too. Now it's about ten degrees above normal and feels balmy outside. I rather like it.

I've decided not to stress too much about my blog posts any longer. This one on Tuesdays has been difficult for me to maintain, but what if I just put up a pretty picture, or a poem, or something like that? Easy peasy, and nobody (me!) gets stressed out. I might just miss another one or two, like I unintentionally did last week. Nobody was more surprised that I was when I went looking for what I'd written about and found nothing at all.
:-)

Getting tired of all this sunshine

Whatcom Falls this morning

We are soon to get a break from all this unaccustomed sunshine that we've had for weeks and weeks. We did have a short respite when we got some rain (for a day) and it warmed up a little, but not for long. Then the deep freeze started up again. Last Thursday when I got up for our hike it was 12°F, but this morning it was 20°, so gradually it is getting back to our normal winter temperatures.

I wouldn't mind the sun so much if it wasn't accompanied by a cold north wind and ice everywhere. If you look carefully at the above picture, you can see lots of icicles, along with the beautiful rushing waterfall. I took this today while we were on our walk with the ladies (and our sometimes guy, Ray). For the first part of our walk, we saw no sun at all, but gradually it came up high enough for us to see it.

Now I don't want you to think that I'm going to start taking a lot of selfies, but here is one more, comparing this morning's look to the one I took last Thursday. I got some purple highlights in my hair yesterday, and I just had to show you the comparison. I am also wearing the same glasses, which are Transitions, obviously.

Fun!

I tried out a new stylist, Dyan, and she asked if she could also shape my eyebrows. I was very hesitant, but she didn't charge me and did it anyway. I like the look, and she knew I would, of course, and I will let her do it again. It's been so long since I've had any color in my hair at all that I was a little bit surprised at how much I like it!

Now, about that Tuesday post I didn't write. I'm beginning to get rather forgetful, it seems, and I think I'll just leave it off without any guilt whenever I don't post. Last week, I didn't even remember that it wasn't there until I went looking for it before I put up my Thursday hiking post. Oh, well, I'm probably the only one who lost any sleep over it. I'm willing to let it go. Or not.
:-)

It's a brand new year

Frosty trees from our New Years Day walk

I was sitting in my chair, dozing, when I suddenly realized that I hadn't yet written my Saturday post. It's been quite an interesting day, with me saturated from having seen the new Star Wars movie in 3-D, and a little tired from having had two wonderful walks with the ladies, one yesterday for New Years and one today for our usual Saturday walk.

I really enjoyed the movie, but I won't spoil it for anybody other than to say it was just about what I expected, what with all the hype that has been roiling around about it. The old friends I hadn't seen in a long time, Han Solo and Princess Leia, have been busy aging right along with me, and they were good to see again. The new faces were really well done, Rey and Finn, and I look forward to seeing them in the next installment in a couple of years. If you're a Star Wars fan, I don't see how you could  be disappointed. I LOVED the bar scene; that was one of my favorite parts of the original series. Let me know what you thought about the movie, if you don't mind.

Tomorrow is Sunday, the last day of the first weekend of the new year, and I'm feeling glad to be alive and looking forward to 2016 with anticipation and happiness.
:-)

Seeing faces everywhere

Pansy faces

Yes, I see faces everywhere I look. In old barns, in flowers like these scrunched-up pansy faces, anywhere that there are possible eyes and a mouth. Noses are not always necessary. That pansy looks to me like an old man with a moustache, or maybe a lion. There is a word for this tendency: pareidolia. (The link takes you to Wikipedia which explains more about it.)

I've always done it, and now that emoji (or emoticons) have become ubiquitous, there is even an Emojipedia page. That way, anybody who wants to find out the true meaning of that weird emoticon he or she received from a so-called friend, well, there it is.

And just this morning I learned about Japanese emojis, such as the shrug, also known as a kaomoji, because it's based on some Japanese characters. Here it is: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and I find it interesting that it's taken off the way it has partly because (taken from The Atlantic):

The meaning of the “the shruggie” is always two, if not three- or four fold. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ represents nihilism, “bemused resignation,” and “a Zen-like tool to accept the chaos of universe.” It is Sisyphus in unicode. 

The world is definitely changing, isn't it?  I am certainly having fun with these new communication tools, and learning stuff to boot!
:-)

Falling behind

Me and Mt Baker behind

Do you know why I am writing this post right now? It's after 7:00pm on Saturday, and, well, I completely forgot about today's scheduled post. My sister just sent me a text asking where my Saturday post was, and it was the first time I actually realized I hadn't written one.

I did have a possible topic, though: eggcorns. Do you know what they are? I didn't before this morning when I was listening to NPR on my way to the walk with my lady friends. But in a sense I have known about them for a long time. An "eggcorn" is a substitution for a word or phrase that sounds similar to the real one. I remember long ago a friend who always said that "we should nip it in the butt" when he meant that we should nip something in the bud. That's an eggcorn, a word that sounds a little like "acorn." These days it's a real phenomenon, and Wikipedia has helped me to think about other eggcorns I've known and loved over the years. Can you think of any others? Here's a few to get you started:

• Bobwire (barbed wire)
• From the gecko (from the get-go)
• In lame man's terms (in laymen's terms)
• Old-timer's disease (Alzheimer's disease)
• Case and point (case in point)

And so many more. This is my quick and dirty post to get me ready for tomorrow's Eye on the Edge, when I wake up in the morning I'll be up to day. 

:-)

Tulip fun and coffee buddies

You might recognize these folks

Well, Kay and her family are back in Hawaii, so I can now show you these wonderful pictures I took of them when I was visiting the tulips a couple of weeks ago. When Kay and her family go on their trips, she posts ahead of time and waits until she returns to let others know they've been gone. Kay posts almost daily on Musings, so when they came to Seattle and drove up to see the tulips, I drove down from Bellingham and we spent the day together. It was simply wonderful, as I felt like I knew Kay, Art, and her mom from her frequent posts. She had also mentioned her brother Dennis now and then, so it actually felt more like a reunion that a first meeting. We had fun!

In my quest to find better ways to export pictures for my blog, I found this really fun free app called Fotor that allowed me to create that collage in nothing flat! I am very pleased with it; Fotor also gives me some powerful editing tools as well. I'll play with it when I have a little more time. In a few minutes I've got to leave for my movie date with my friend Judy.

Having coffee with the ladies

I did get up early (not unusual for me) and made my way to Boulevard Park to head up the hills with the ladies this morning, and we stopped afterwards at Woods Coffee with a great view of the bay before separating. I truly enjoy this wonderful group, and again I am struck by the beauty all around us every day. It certainly helps to get me out and about when I have all that sunshine and great company to boot!
:-)

Pumpkins and rainy days

Big organic pumpkin

Outside the Community Food Coop, they've got another one of those giant pumpkins displayed for us to guess its weight. Here's a picture of the one from last year. I noticed how much it weighed once they told us, but I sure don't remember, or even have a clue how heavy last year's was. I'll probably guess around 500 pounds, what do you think? Maybe 555, some lucky number or something. Certainly not 600, though, it just doesn't look that big to me.

We are supposed to be getting a LOT of rain in the next few days, including (sigh) Thursday. We have had so many wonderful days that I guess I can't expect every Thursday to be sunny and dry. I'll get to try out my new rain gear, which is something I can look forward to... sort of. We had rain and gray skies two out of the three days that I spent last weekend on Vashon Island. Sunday, the day we had to leave, was the first time we got a glimpse of Mt. Rainier from the back porch.

The mountain was out!

I took this from inside, which is why you see those streaks from the window's glare, but I thought it was such a spectacular view that I didn't even care. It's just a memory for me now, a good one one that will keep me going back to the Lavender Hill Farmhouse for many more years, if it comes to pass. My blogging buddies who are now actually friends for life will need to join me for it to mean anything, but I'm hoping this time next year we'll be back together. I really had a great time with these unique characters. The blogosphere has definitely changed my life for the better.
:-)

Vashonistas meet again

Linda, Jann, DJan, Deb, Sandi

Well, this year we are only five Vashonistas, as Sally had to cancel at the last minute because of illness. We are so sorry she's not with us for our third gathering at the Lavender Hill Farm on Vashon Island. We are all blogging women who got together two years ago here for the first time, and now I believe we are on a roll! This is such a fine way for us to meet each other as "skin friends," since we already knew so much about each other from our blogs. Links to our previous meetings are here and here.

And for the third time we had our Saturday breakfast at the Hardware Store (a restaurant on the main drag) and now it's a tradition. We also had the same waitperson, and we asked if she remembered us, which is doubtful, considering the number of visitors that come every year, but she didn't let on that she didn't remember us.

The view from the back porch of the farmhouse

It is such a peaceful and wonderful place, and we had a great time last night as we ate Jann's wonderful lasagna and enjoyed some great uproarious laughter together. I just returned from a short walk with Sandi and Deb so I could write this post, but there will be more tomorrow on my other blog. I'm really glad I came and I sure wish the rain would stop so we could perhaps capture a view of Mt. Rainier (which is actually available from one of our previous visits here). You can never have too many views of mountains, can you?
:-)

A wonderful, emotional gift

The cover of Pete's book, from his blog

I was just minding my own  business today when the doorbell rang. The UPS guy had a package for me, but I wasn't expecting anything. I looked at who sent it, and it simply said, "Sharedbook." Hmmm. He asked if I wanted to take it or reject it. Hmmm. "Well, it doesn't say I owe anything, so I'll accept it." I opened it, puzzled, and inside was a 200+-page book, called "Out of My Multiple Minds."  A book created from my late brother-in-law Pete's blog, sent to me by Allison!

There's more to the story: when I visited my niece Allison (Norma Jean's daughter) in August 2010, to get introduced to the newest Stewart family member, Allison's two-month-old daughter Lexie, the four of us were together for a concentrated family visit. I tried to talk Pete into starting a blog, since his COPD was well advanced and the prospects for him to reach a ripe old age were diminishing. He resisted mightily. But after he returned home, he did start one, and his prolific, interesting posts covered a period from early September 2010 until he died in February 2011. Not a long time, but enough for him to have created a wonderful body of work.

Random pages from the book

Well, Norma Jean and her son Peter decided to research how one might turn a blog into a book, and they found Blog2Print, which helped them create this wonderful book. Allison sent me the one I received today, with the note, "This is because I know you loved him as much as we did. --Allison" Needless to say, I pored over the entire book, cried mightily more than once, and am writing this post to deliver a heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who helped it come to fruition. And a special thanks to Allison for including me. Norma Jean had sent me a link to the draft, and I was hesitant to spend close to $100 for something that might not be worth it, but I have to say that this book is actually priceless.

Back cover

If there is an afterlife, I truly hope that Pete was hovering as I made my way through the pages, crying tears of happiness AND sadness, and simply being grateful that I was a part of his life for decades, a truly unique individual and my brother-in-law. And what a family! The Stewart clan is a great place to belong, trust me.
:-)

Virtual toast

A Christmas toast

On Wednesday, Norma Jean and I shared a virtual toast to the holiday on video chat. Once I'm down there in Florida visiting, we will do this every evening at 5:00pm. I know her glass looks huge, but it's not, really. We both measure out exactly 8 ounces of wine for our evening repast, and once it's gone, it's over until the next evening. I know a serving is supposed to be 5 ounces, but it's not quite enough for me! This is perhaps not a small serving, but it has grown to be my usual daily portion, and so far my liver enzymes seems up to the task.

The widget that I use on my blogs to search for previous posts is broken. When I tried to use it to find that Christmas Eve post last week, I saw that it wasn't working and went over to my other blog to discover that it doesn't work over there, either. It's annoying because I use that feature all the time to link to previous posts over the years.

There is a website for Blogger called "Something Is Broken" and I found that this has been a problem for many other bloggers for a few months now. It might have been broken for that long, too, but there doesn't seem to be anything to do about it except remove it for the time being. Then I discovered another similar code that works somewhat; it links all the posts with the search word in it, instead of just a few lines. I've replaced the broken one with the substitute for now. If you use it and wonder how to get out of it once you've used it, I found that clicking on the banner will take you back. Sigh. It is free, after all, but sometimes Blogger can be a real pain.

My internal clock is kind of screwed up, since Christmas (and, soon, New Years) falls right in the middle of the week, so when I wake up I must puzzle for a minute or two as to what day of the week it is. Tomorrow is Sunday, though, and I'll be heading off to the movies with my friend Judy. Her family is gone and it's time for us to catch up!
:-)

The Vashonistas meet again

Sandi, Jann, Linda, Deb, me, Sally

Last year at the beginning of October, six blogging friends met for the first time at the Lavender Hill Farm on Vashon Island. I wrote about it here. The above picture shows the six of us this morning at the Hardware Store, the same restaurant where we ate breakfast last year. Our gathering was such a success, and we now love each other even more, so here we are one year later, with another three days together at the end of October instead of at the beginning. We even have a tradition to follow: breakfast at the Hardware Store, a visit to the Farmers' Market, and dinner together on Friday night, fixed by our very own Sandi, cook extraordinaire.

Sandi preparing last night's lasagne

Today we went on a couple of new hikes, discovered by Deb, sure to become another tradition: finding places on the island to explore together. The beautiful farm house where we are staying is a joy to come back to, after having been out and about, exploring. The gorgeous views we had of Mt. Rainier are missing this year, since we are experiencing the same low clouds that the rest of Washington state has had for the past two weeks. But it's still beautiful, and the colors!

The Shinglemill Creek trail

The first place we went is called the Shinglemill Creek trail, maintained by the Vashon Maury Island Land Trust, which is dedicated to preserving the land to protect natural habitats on the island. It's a beautiful trail, which descends into a ravine before starting up again. It's got some pretty steep parts, but it's just beautiful, if a bit on the slippery side with all the fallen leaves.

There are steps under all those leaves

After we explored the area, we headed down to a beach where we could look for shells and rocks. Although that was fun, the big excitement was watching an eagle steal a gull's lunch. The gull tried for awhile to get the treat back, but finally gave up.

It's hard to intimidate an eagle

Then we split up, three Vashonistas deciding to do some shopping in town, while three others, me being one, came back to our lovely farm house to enjoy some lunch and get some blogging done. I walked around the grounds, looking for some pictures, and could not resist this stunning display of fall colors taken from the back porch.

It really is that brilliant

When the sun is out, colors sometimes wash out a bit, but when it's overcast, I've gotten some of my most vivid pictures. Today was no exception. I plan to finish this post and head into the kitchen for some leftover lasagne. I'm enjoying myself immensely and will put a post up on my Eye on the Edge post tomorrow morning before we start to pack up and head back home. What a gift these blogging friends are!
:-)

The great pumpkin

How much does it weigh?

Outside the Community Food Co-op, this enormous pumpkin sits, with a box to collect guesses as to how much it weighs. I woke up this morning pondering how one might figure that out. If it were a person, I'd guess in the 300-pound range. But it's a pumpkin, so I'm thinking it might be even more than that. Anyway, it's huge. It's the time of year when pumpkins and falling leaves remind me that winter is just around the corner.

View of a maple tree from the fourth floor of the Y

We've had two full days of fog, basically negating any chance that I might have had to get a skydive under my belt here in Washington state before the season ends. Next weekend I'll be spending on Vashon Island with my blogging friends, so this was my last chance. We expected that the fog wouldn't hang around all day, but we were all wrong. It's because we've had a temperature inversion and little to no wind to blow it all away. It will probably be sunny and bright tomorrow, just to spite me.

Normal sized pumpkins

I've been enjoying seeing the fall colors and decorations that my blogging friends have posted on their websites, so I figure I should at least show you what it looks like around here. I'm reading three books at once and sort of forgot that I needed to put up a weekend post, so this is my attempt at quelling that nagging feeling inside that I was missing something...
:-)