Colors!

Like my purple tongue? Compliments of a couple of glasses of Cabernet. Just thought you might like to see it!

It's raining tonight. Been doing so all day, thanks to a nor'easter blowing up the Eastern Atlantic coast. I love nor'easters! They are a definite sign that summer is over. They are a peculiar east coast phenomena, usually rolling in from western Georgia, or the Carolina's, then making a left turn up the coast. They can bring anything from mild rain, to torrential downpours, or heavy snows, but in the worst case, they bring horrific ice storms. This one has just been rain for us in the mid-Atlantic Piedmont , although my relatives in the upper Susquehanna valley of Pennsylvania will be getting their first snow tonight.

I bought a digital camera over a month ago. My intention was to provide you with some better pictures of myself, and some of my exploits, as well as my surroundings. I'm sorry, but I regret to admit, that I have much in common with the slugs, that graze on the algae growing on my vinyl siding. I really must get to it, before all of the beautiful fall colors have fallen and blown away. We are just now entering the most colorful time of fall. By mid October the Blue Ridge Mountains are ablaze. In the subsequent weeks, their brilliance slowly descends into the Piedmont, and then down onto the coastal plane. I promise I will load the disc into my computer tomorrow, and see about formatting my memory card. Do not hesitate to chastise me if I don't. Sometimes shame is a great motivator.

They are playing medieval music on NPR(National Public Radio) tonight. A bit ancient for my tastes, but a lot better than the pleading and begging that went on all day, thanks to their horrible, semi-annual fund raising campaign. It goes on for at least two weeks, twice a year, and interrupts all of their regular programing during the day and early evening. Sometimes, I wish they would just shut up, and send out a self addressed envelope, along with a courteous request for donations. Instead they have all of these volunteers, who are just thrilled at the prospect of their voices going out over the airways, bending our ears ad nauseam, about the joys of public radio, and why we should all contribute. It really gets sickening.

I went the post office today. A trip to the post office is a 40 mile round trip for me . The clothes I ordered in anticipation of my sister's funeral arrived, but the package was too large to fit into my over sized mail box, so my mail carrier left one of those little orange notes, saying the package was too big for my mailbox. Why she couldn't have driven the quarter mile into our subdivision, and left the package on my deck as I have repreatedly requested, I just don't know. It was raining, and I know she doesn't want to leave packages out in the rain, but I have specifically told her in a face to face conversation, that I want all of my packages left on my deck, rain, or shine. After all, everything inside is encased in plastic. So what if the box gets wet? Well, at least I got a pleasant autumn drive through the rolling hills of the Virginia Piedmont. It really was pretty, even though it was drizzling the whole time.

Melissa XX