Wow! what a weekend

What a glorious, balmy day, temperature 75 degrees, partly sunny, leaves bursting in tangerine, amber and ruby, nature's jewels. The wind kicked up and it became blustery; the leaves started raining down. Oh, the little girl came out in me and I just had to dance and spin and toss the leaves.

The leaves are breathtakingly beautiful and I am so thankful for my eyesight. This tree was one of my favorites.

I could have sat on this bench all day.

But, we moved to the river overlook and watched the Mississippi roll down to the Gulf. We also saw an older woman get out of her car, walk over to a bench and pull a chocolate cupcake and container of milk from her purse. She looked up and said, "What a fine place to eat my lunch." I agreed on all accounts,especially since she was eating my kind of lunch.

This is the perfect tree, the symmetry, the depth of colors, truly God's masterpiece.

I have the best husband; Bill makes me smile and laugh. He holds my hand, my heart.

The tree blew him a kiss! I love being outdoors and this was fun, but the whole weekend has been great. Friday evening I attended a poetry reading by Poet Laureate, Ted Kooser. His work is free verse and down to earth. He is the master of metaphor:"He was a balloon of a man who deflated when..." Those words made my brain ping!

Saturday night we volunteered at the cemetery for the last weekend of Voices of Valhalla hayrides. Valhalla Cemetery (provided the venue), St. Louis Genealogical Society (did the research), The St. Louis Writer's Guild (wrote the scripts), and the Hawthorne Players (acted out the scripts) collaborated on this first time event to bring St. Louis history alive. The hay wagon made ten stops to visit with the dearly departed and learn about the significant contributions they made. When I was a child we lived across the street from a large cemetery. I was never spooked.

At the end of the evening, just before the witching hour, I left Bill and writer friend, Mary(who had written one of the scripts) standing near the bonfire while I escorted a handicapped couple down the sidewalk. I had mentioned earlier that my grandparents were buried in the cemetery. As the full moon went behind a cloud, Mary came up behind me unexpectedly and called, "LIIIINNNDDDA." Holy moly! It sounded like my grandma, and now I know exactly what they mean by the hair standing up on the back of your neck. I had goosebumps!

As thunder rolls across the sky and night darkens this beautiful day, I am inspired to write. I am so thankful for my blessings and for all of you who stop by and leave a message, and to those who prefer to just read and not comment.