Waves of Serendipity

It's a Good Thing

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Seriously, I am no Martha Stewart but there are so many "good things" I just love about fall...

Fresh mums begging for a beautiful urn and a porch to adorn
Pumpkin picking
Hot apple cider, homemade
Crisp and cool evening air
The first wood fire crackling in the fireplace
Hues of the changing leaves: gold, crimson, and copper
Chevre and cranberry salad with pears and champagne dressing
The start of the holiday season
Decorated yards, pumpkins everywhere
Muscadine grapes and grape picking
Wine festivals
Making Connor real hot cocoa on the stove, from scratch
Pulling out the hats and gloves and hand-knitted scarves
Fresh green fall fescue lawns
Feeling the dirt in my hands as I clean up the garden, all of the earthly smells
Fall festivals
Christmas shopping
Time outdoors without the oppressive heat and humidity of summer
Sleeping with a cool breeze flowing through an open window
Hearing the owls hoot, again, through open windows
Halloween and all of the little ghosts and goblins
Baseball's World Series
Pro-football season
Playoffs
Macy's Thanksgiving's Day Parade

Meet Marley, as in Bob, not "Marley and Me." Connor was between Marley Pumpkin and Perdita, and Marley Pumpkin won...or as he says it, "Mar-wee." Where did he learn of Bob Marley? We have friends with a little dog named Marley, Connor's Uncle Rudy is a Bob fan, and Connor has the above t-shirt. I digress...since Sammy has passed and Connor has come to terms with it, he's been asking, begging, for a "snuggle puppy, since Sammy is up in heaven and isn't here to snuggle me at night." Ugh, breaks your heart. This is a much easier request to grant than his other one these days: "Mom, I want a baby. Can you have a baby? Oh, and ask God to make it a BOY. No girls, a BOY!" We went to the pound on Saturday and met this little thing...

The pound listed her as German Shepherd mix. Hmmm, don't see that at all. Our vet thinks she's a Miniature Pinscher, weighing in at 16 pounds and smaller than our cat. Whatever she is, she's cute, sweet, and loves to snuggle.

Riding home- look at that smile on his face!

Puppy love

Worn out

Getting along with Salem

Dax is still top dog in the house, but is very accepting of Marley. Good boy! And good thing since he has an 80 pound advantage.

Various Photos

Stopping on Afton Mountain's lookout, 9/28

New Halloween shirt

Pirate parrot from Nonna

Showing off carrots, pirate parrot, and Batman

Carrots Connor grew

Serendipity

I have this "thing"- whenever I run to the market, I run into someone I know...and the worse I look, the more people I run into that I haven't seen in years (Murphy's Law, right?). The other day, it was a teacher from high school, who was excited to meet Connor. I had two recently that fall into my classification of "serendipity" and of course, both happened at the market.

While in OBX this summer, on vacation of all places, I was in a market in Duck and ran into a guy I'd not seen since graduation- we were hallmates my sophomore year. The funny thing was despite 15 years passing, we recognized each other immediately, learned we are in similar roles with competing companies, and got to introduce our kids to each other.

Back home this past weekend, I ran into another hallmate from Bushnell, at Trader Joe's. And sure enough, we work for competing banks. He does not live in the area, but was stopping with his wife and infant on a drive back from a wedding. It was so nice to meet his wife and new baby, introduce Connor, and just catch up- all in the middle of the market.

I also love running into my pal Adam at Trader Joe's, although not recently. And did I mention the time I was walking down the Ringstrasse in Vienna of all places, and ran into a fellow student government member from MWC? And yes, we recognized each other and stopped to chat. Or last year catching a connecting flight in Charlotte and running into a friend from NC on her way home from Cancun? Then boarding my flight and knowing three more people on board? Ah, serendipity!