THE FALL OF FALL

October was a wonderful month. Usually I am not a fan of the month. It is fine until the middle of the month and then the beautiful trees lose their leaves and they all fall down (similar to Humpty Dumpty). This year however the temperatures stayed warm longer and the leaves took their "good 'ole time" turning colors. However November ushered itself in with a blustery wind and rain. The temperatures are still great but the rain and wind have caused the trees to shed their leaves. On a brighter note, our son decided to run for the local school board this year and was elected. It was close and there will be a recount as dictated by Ohio law. I am very proud of him for all of his service to his community and his belief that he can stand, counted and make a difference. The hard work is just beginning as well as all of those "wonderful" phone calls that he can look forward too! Still, it is nice that he is putting himself out there. Kudos!!!

WEEK THREE IN OCTOBER

This has been a pretty good week. It ramped up greatly on Friday when I went down to see the grandkids. It was Grandparent Day at the elementary school. The PTA had an independent caterer offer sandwiches and salads if you so desired (this eliminated me having to stop somewhere to pick up lunch). Since both grandmothers were there we both opted for the lunch. Afterward we did the book fair. I really had about 1 1/2 hours until my grandson came home from school. I decided to wait. I had brownies to take to the house and I got to play with both dogs. When my grandson came home we talked about the upcoming dance that Saturday night. He told me that they were learning line dances in gym and he actually got up and showed them to me. He is usually so reticent that it was pure joy to watch this. I saw the pictures of the boys and two girls who went to the dance. Based on the dresses on the girls I think my time Friday afternoon was even more precious. He is growing up too fast. With both grandkids I need to corral as much time as I can.

SOCCER

Sunday we were in Bodkins Ohio for the granddaughter's final regular season game. For a moment it seemed as though no one would get to play since the referee did not show up. However one of our moms is a soccer coach and the other team agreed to let her ref. Kudos for them. I am not an expert on soccer rules by any stretch of the imagination but she seemed to do a very good job and for once no one on either side seemed to yell at the ref. However I cannot believe the "grandfathers" of these kids. At one of the baseball games this summer a grandfather went off on the ref and almost started fights among the parents and then Sunday again a grandfather started to cross the line. Just at the end of the game a ref showed up. When one mother questioned him, he said he was there for a 4:00 game (it was not our game). The grandfather did not hear that and just assumed he was the absent ref and started shouting to go home, not needed etc. I mean really!!!! Do these old men lose their perspective after a certain age or do they just think that being old gives them the right to say, act and do whatever they want? The girls lost 3-2 but played well considering that they had no subs while the other team could sub out each player all day. It was a spectatular October day however. It was great to be outside.

EARLY OCTOBER

This will probably seem as though I wrote two articles in one day. My last posting was saved in a draft and I just got around to posting it. I still cannot seem to post pictures and should really try to figure it out. On another note, the October weather so far has been fabulous. I have played some golf but pulled a muscle or injured the sciatic (not sure which) and have had some trouble with the turns etc that are involved in golf. This past week we have had a funeral and a memorial service to attend. One was the mother of a friend and that of course evokes memories of my own parents. It was a Lutheran service and the choice of hymns was great. The memorial service today is for a friend. We have not been involved with him since his divorce over 20 years ago but he maintained a friendly atmosphere with his ex-wife and we are supporting her. He was just 69. That is getting too close to home. The weather is suppose to turn a bit next week. Our grandson has just one more football game and we are attending our granddaughter's last soccer game tomorrow. She will be in a tournment next weekend but we might not be able to make it and it will also depend on the weather. I wish that I lived close enough to attend all their events. It is just a long day to drive over 5 hours (there and back) for an hour or two. Plus now I would be driving back in the dark on an expressway and alone. I just feel that is foolish on my part. Oh well. It is a choice that I make and I hate it.

SEPTEMBER???????

Where oh where has September AND the summer gone. Today is the first day of fall. I so love summer that I am bummed that it is over. I know we have good weather left but still....... A week ago JR and I went to The Wilds in southeaster Ohio near Zanesville. It is situated on 10,000 acres with 2,000 of those acres populated by various exotic species of animals. We went on a 2 1/2 hour safari to see the various animals, checked into our yurt (yes you read that correctly), had dinner, enjoyed a wonderful powerful storm during the night and ate breakfast the next day before heading up to Columbus and Easton Center. I am going to try to load some pictures but have not been able to the last few trys.