Sunday, October 24, 2010

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.

12 comments:

Chatty Crone said...

Sounds like you and hubby had a wonderful fall weekend. Sandie♥

Tammy said...

LOVE the pictures, especially the first one--it looks like you are juggling leaves or somehow magically suspending them! You really captured the weekend.

Allison Schreiber Lee said...

I was also thankful for the gorgeous weather this weekend and the leaves take my breath away. Now I'm grateful for the storms rolling in right before bed. Beautiful pictures- thank you for sharing them!
Best,
Allison
http://allison-thisisthelife.blogspot.com/

BECKY said...

Great pictures, Linda! I'm a kid, too, when it comes to those gorgeous leaves!

Janet Riehl said...

Linda,

I soooo missed going to the Kooser reading. I'm eager for the full report!

Janet Riehl

Karen Lange said...

What a wonderful weekend! Loved the photos! The fall colors are wonderful.

Linda O'Connell said...

Sandie, Tammy, Allison, Becky, Janet and Karen,
I am so glad you stopped by. It was an awesome weekend.

Lisa Ricard Claro said...

Great post, Linda. The trees are beautiful, and you look so happy! I love the photos.

Gerry Mandel said...

I find it hard to sit inside and write on days like this, Linda. I know November is headed this way and those beautiful outdoor occasions will be rare. Just looking at your pictures, hearing your words, feeling the breeze (I almost said in my hair but that's ridiculous) and warmth of the sun deepens my appreciation of nature. I went for a bike ride today in Forest Park, expecting to see it bursting with color. Not true, my precious. Rather drab except in spots. The trees you photographed must have captured all the color in the neighborhood. Don't ever grow up, Linda. And tell me more about that chocolate cupcake.

Linda O'Connell said...

Lisa,
I treasure these fall days, especially since it's been so balmy here. Thanks for stopping by.

Linda O'Connell said...

Gerry,
We have talked about bike riding, but that's about as far as we get. We used to ride in Eureka at 66 Park, the old dioxin tainted Time's Beach area.

The chocolate cupcake was a prewrapped kid's lunch box type. But the dear woman looked lonely as she fiddled with the cellophane and uncapped her milk. As I said, my kind of lunch!

Terri Tiffany said...

Your pictures are inspiring! I miss the fall leaves so much so I will live through all of your pictures.