sunflowery's Diaryland Diary
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enjoying The Fireworks of Autumn
We had a lovely weekend. Not just by experience, but the weather, the scenery, the sun...it was all so lovely!
I got up early on Saturday and prepared to go visit my Grandma. She lives in a town about 75 miles south of here. The drive was amazing. About 1 mile outside of the metro, the scenery shifts from stripmalls and auto dealers to farm fields and groves of trees.
The farmers were in their combines taking in the harvest. Each red machine ate row after row of dry corn. The bounty filling the bellies of these big red machines.
The scenery along the road was what I call the fireworks of autumn. A flash of red, 
a bang of orange, 
screaming yellow 
ending in a burst of rust and russet. I just imagine the oohs and ahhs and of the people driving next to me. 
It was just spectacular. I love fall. The weather is still warm enough during the day to not need a coat and at night, it's perfect for sleeping with the window open. There is a hint of winter on the wind...a breeze kissed by coolness, but it's still too far away to worry about.
Anyway, I arrived at my Grandma's apartment around noon. She either forgot I was coming, or she thought I was coming the next day. But all was well. She took me to lunch at a yummy chinese place in town. We should have shared a meal since we ordered the same thing, but I didn't think of that until later. I had ordered an egg roll and decided to try a tiny bit of hot mustard on it and OH MY WORD! I have never had anything so hot it hurt...but there's a first time for everything. It was painfully hot and it hurt my tongue and my throat the whole way down. Sheesh.
After lunch we drove around and grandma showed me the new high school and we drove past the country club and to a local park. 
It was just so lovely out. We drove around the lake and had a lovely chat. 
We got back to Grandma's and she asked me to do a couple of things for her. I set her VCR and put together a shoe rack for her. Then she had me go through some stuff she was getting rid of. Most of it was cups and saucers she no longer wanted to hang on to. I did end up taking 2 of those. One was a set her mother had purchased at a garage sale in 1949. Another one had sunflowers on it. She also gave me 3 candlesticks, pink glass creamer and sugar bowl, a couple of knitting books, and a wonderful collage frame. So, I did pretty well. Oh, and she sent me home with 2 pieces of homemade pumkin pie. Yum!
The drive back was just as lovely as the drive down. I even had my window down and was able to enjoy the breeze.
I got home around 6 and was given a warm welcome by my sweet husband. We both ended up falling asleep to the TV and went to bed around 9:30.
Sunday was church. It was our Sunday for the alter team, but once again, Bob wasn't feeling well, so he stayed home. Before I left for church, I got up early, made a pot of chili, cleaned the apartment, and the kitty boxes. I usually have a lot more energy in the morning and don't usually feel like cleaning when I get home.
Church was good. The guest speaker talked about how God rarely asks us to give Him what we don't have but He will ask us to give Him all of what we do have and then He takes it and uses it abundantly. He used the example of the kid with the loaves and fishes in the New Testament and the widow with large depts and a little oil in the Old Testament. I was thinking about what we have. We have been wanting to be involved in one of our church's small groups but because the meet in homes, we are unable to meet with most of them because there are stairs. One place has about 20 stairs just to get to their meeting room. Anyway, I went to the pastor in charge of the small groups and told him our dilema and said that since we live in a handicapped accessible place, we would LOVE to host a small group at our place. I was all excited. But this pastor seemed to not think it so fabulous as he said he would "think about it" and get back to me. What's to think about? We want to be involved and we are limited because of Bob's handicap. I come up with a way we can be more involved and we are put off while he "thinks about it." Whatever.
On the drive home, while I was enjoying yet more of the lovely scenery, I was thinking how beautiful it would be if we had unlimited financial resources because it would be so cool to open a fully handicapped accessible camp. Not only to have the camp be accessible, but to specialize in catering to people who have lost limbs or abilities due to muscle degeneration. We would teach them that though they have lost limbs or abilities, they have not lost meaning to their lives. We would have the newest technology available to teach them how to do new jobs or hobbies or physical activity. We would provide hope and function. It's a nice dream. I wonder how we could ever start something like that.
I got home and the chili was ready and my husband was hungry. We had chili and watched the Vikings game. Then we both fell asleep so we decided to take a nap together. I slept for about a half hour, got up and the game was still on! Vikes won in overtime...thank goodness. They are the only MN team to win this weekend. Our beloved Twins are out of the playoffs. Boo hoo.
The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and testing out my new mixer! I made a small batch of chocolate chip cookies and I have to say I LOVE THE MIXER! It was fantastic. And the cookies were good too.
Overall it was a great weekend of travel, family, cooking, and dreaming. Hope yours was just as nice.
7:06 a.m. - Monday, Oct. 11, 2004
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
other diaries: Marn |