October is gone. My favorite month has vanished, leaving a sentimental shower of memories that tumble, scatter, and fade like autumn leaves.
Sappy and poetic, but I couldn't resist...
I wrote a good post for Halloween, but there was some kind of extremely annoying Blogger glitch that wouldn't allow me to post photos (I had lots of vintage photos) I tried and tried...and finally gave up. Blogger gremlins creating Halloween mischief??
Halloween here in the Tennessee wilderness was spooky and appropriately atmospheric. My Big Plan for that day was to drive into town - because I desperately needed supplies.
I got up very early, with almost no sleep. As I was getting ready, the sunless day turned darker. Soon torrential rain was falling. By mid-morning a wicked wind howled through the forest and the temperature dropped drastically.
It had initially been a balmy 60 degrees (Fahrenheit). By noon it was 40. By late afternoon it was below freezing!
Halloween night was 24 bone-chilling degrees.
Since venturing to town was out of the question, I went back to bed and took a nap.
Just before napping, I took a picture of my bedroom window - which is the header photo on this post (the blog photo glitch seems to finally be resolved...).
I cropped the photo to make it look more "artistic".
Friday, the first of November, was extremely cold but sunny - so I forced myself to make the dreaded trip to town. I won't go into agonizing details about all the things that went wrong (it would take too long) but at least I got lots of groceries. And cat food.
I brought my El Cheapo camera along - even though it's nearly impossible to take pictures on the narrow mountain road.
I managed to take about a dozen photos - - but I accidentally pushed the video button on the camera and it somehow deleted nearly all of the pictures.
Here are the paltry few that were left.
A photo surprise
I was getting out of the car to take a picture of an old abandoned cabin and the camera automatically snapped this photo.
An old barn on the road to town
Trees on the mountainside
in autumnal glory
All the serenity vanished when I got home and started lugging groceries up the slippery hill to the back door.
Despite my bad back and ravaged leg, I always try to carry as many things as possible.
Two of the bags ripped open and groceries tumbled everywhere. A jar of spaghetti sauce broke. Worst of all, a box of candy (jellied fruit slices) opened and all the candy spilled onto the filthy, muddy ground.
Since they were over-priced and I like them a lot, I muttered
I'll be goddamned if I'll throw them away!
I picked every one off the ground, wiped them as best I could, and put them back in the box.
Hell, I've eaten worse things than candy and dirt.
Let your imaginations go rampant.
the ones that look black are really purple
The last time I went to town, I bought Bigelow coconut and almond tea.
This time I bought Vanilla Chai.
Tried it this evening. It has a nice smooth vanilla flavor.
I love the autumn colours on those trees. My lot haven't turned yet but even when they do they won't be anything like yours. Did the candy taste any different after the spill?
ReplyDeleteYou tell a good story, Jon, I've had that tea and liked it. My grandma often had spearmint flavored jelly slices in her candy jar for us. Brings back good memories. Those trees are indeed glorious. I felt as though the colors were muted here this year. Hope your weekend is a good one.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful where you live! Live that old barn and the fall colors.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you need some cloth shopping bags that won't rip through. They're wonderful to have. And when you have had bags rip like that...well, you won't forget them when you go to town. They don't dig into your hands, either, like plastic ones and they have handles unlike some paper bags. Be a great investment.
Or an even better idea would be a folding cart you could keep in your car. Still easier to drag through the mud and snow than trying to carry all those bags at once. They have small ones for about $35 that will fit in the trunk or larger ones that might have to go behind the back seat depending on how big your trunk is for around ten dollars more, I think. I had both of them when I still had a car. I kept the little one in the trunk and the larger one in my garage. The little one was easier to drag through the snow--probably because I couldn't fill it as full--LOL! But two easier trips is better than one harder trip. When you have back, shoulder, or arm issues--they are life savers. Invest in yourself. You are worth it. :)
Love the autumn color. Now that we’ve moved to Florida it’s mostly evergreens. It’s candy, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. ;-) Hate you’re still in pain, hope it improves soon.
ReplyDeleteTake care, Sheila
Your photo of that old cabin is SO cool … frame-worthy, even! When I started out for work on Halloween it was a balmy 76* … but by (work)day's end, it dropped to 40. Glad you decided to postpone your trip to town!
ReplyDeleteOh BTW, I agree with Rita about those folding carts; I've been eyeballing them myself.
Drat on the broken shopping bag, Jon, glad you ere able to salvage some of the candy, but not so on that tomato sauce. That old cabin shot was a real keeper as were those autumn colors which really popped in the blue sky. Sorry to hear that the pain is still a constant, but glad you were able to get out and get things you need.
ReplyDelete