Waiting patiently

We're still waiting for peak color, unusual for the 1st of October.  Friends are coming for Columbus Day--some years they get a muted showing because it's past peak, some years they hit it on peak color but this year it looks as if it will be pre-peak.  But beautiful nevertheless.  Not, maybe the brilliance of oranges, yellows and reds we sometimes have but you can't argue that fall color in Hawkeye is a thing of beauty.

I've been busy but winding down my social activities (though someone at book group just asked me if I EVER eat a meal at home)(the answer is yes but not often recently).  Most people have left/are leaving.  I had a delightful and wonderful evening with one of my favorite relatives, my cousin's son and his wife (blonde-haired Betsy) on Saturday.  We always laugh a lot when we're together.  We usually see each other only once a year but we can easily pick up where we left off.  They LOVE my dogs (who wouldn't?).  They were in camp for the weekend so I took the dogs down to see them but OH NO the dogs ran off together.  My fault, I was distracted and having a nice visit.  Turned out the dogs went down the lake and visited with some friends at their camp.  Only Bear wouldn't leave.  Treasure went back to camp but Bear refused to leave.  Of course, their feeding him biscuits and letting him in the camp to play with their dog didn't encourage him to come home.  I waited too long for him to show up at our camp, finally came home 2 hours later to find him in my living room--they left me 2 phone messages and ended up driving him home and letting him in the house.  I'm sure he appreciated the ride.  Anyway I was embarrassed but thankful, now will do something nice for them to repay.  They are nice people and have a wonderful male from the same breeder so we share that.

I'm heading to Plattsburgh today for a doctor's appointment and lunch with a friend (see?  I never really DO eat at home, alone).  This is the doctor who tried convincing me that I do indeed have a soul (this was last year).  No, I do not believe in an afterlife.  But you MUST, declared the doctor, we all have souls.  I KNOW this.  I've FELT the soul of my dead daughter leave her body.  blah blah blah.  Not my circus, not my monkeys.

I worked at the thrift store but only briefly.  People working there seemed to be pretty grumpy so I stayed 2 hours then left, feeling guilty because of the stuff that was piled up outside of receiving, waiting for sorting, cleaning and pricing.  Too bad, I don't volunteer there to be among a bunch of grumbling and suffering fellow volunteers.  I'll return on Wednesday unless something else comes up and one of the grumblers will have left town by then.  We usually have a good time working together, we laugh, we tease each other, we talk and I enjoy the companionship and sharing.  Hopefully that will work out this week.

I'm going on morning walks pretty regularly now, we've been walking on an old logging road with a gorgeous 180-degree view of the mountains.  That only works if my friend can go to work late because it doesn't get light as early anymore, rats.  Today we're heading back to the treadmills at the gym at 7:15.  I think I walk faster on the treadmill.  or maybe not, I can't tell.  Anyway the view isn't as nice but the conversation is still good.