Again I say

There are not enough hours in the day. There are not enough days in the year. Gratitude is playing with my psyche today. I am grateful for my son, daughter-in-law(daughter), and 2 of the cutest grandkids in the world.

Today was a beautiful day in this part of planet Earth. I have gotten to swing on the front porch without suffering a melt down. I have read some good books. I'm making some pretty jewelry for the first time in a long time. Boy, it doesn't take much to make me happy.

Autumn is one of my favorite times of year. I always connect it with the start of school, though today's schools often start at the beginning of August. Anyway I was the dweeb of the world because I loved school. Of course the social opportunities (namely boys) were part of the program. I went back to my hometown the other day and was able to shop in the cutest shop with some wonderful decorative things. The shop is at 110 East Tennessee Ave. I lived in part of the shop when I was 8 years old. I even got to set foot in my old bedroom. Wow! Life surely does change. And when I was 8 was 53 years ago. I loved seeing the things that had been done with the building. I was with a friend I had met when I was 9. She is a treasure and I only recently was able to reconnect with her. It has been a treat. I am so much more able to appreciate things now. It is always better to go ahead and say so I think. Waiting for a perfect time to tell a person they are appreciated may result in a loss of opportunity.

I have been thinking about the old days, or at least as much as my memory will let me. The friday night football games for instance. I was in the band and of course I wanted to go on the boy search but the band members had to sit in the stands and play and set a good example. Of what I don't know. The smells and sounds and sights at a High School football game are the same all over. The popcorn, the coolness of the night, the fizz that goes up the nose from a really fresh coke. Yelling till hoarse, jumping for joy at a touchdown, and making plans for after the game were one of the most fun things about High School. Should you have a boyfriend, there is always the shared fun of being seen being doted on by the most wonderful guy in the world. But anyway, after the game I usually managed to find some friends to ride with to the local fun spot, the Wildcat Den. (Now a Senior Center) There was a band or DJ and we all had a great time dancing and pretending to be adults. Back then I didn't know that being an adult was not so much fun as I had thought. I loved dancing so much it surprises me that I have not danced since college except on a very few occasions. And I also didn't realize that a lot of guys don't particularly like to dance. Oh well!

I also loved the excitement of getting back to seeing friends that had been unavailable over the summer. There were always a few friends that lived close enough to see once in a while but the school year offered so much more to see and sometimes to gossip about. Yes, I did. It was"Did you see who so and so took to the Den Friday?" and "Oh, I just heard so and so is now wearing such-and such's ring. I didn't even know they were dating. Did you?" The latest of the things that happened over the summer took till about Thanksgiving to discuss, understand, predict the future of, and embrace or dismiss as false. I really don't know how anyone gets out of High School with the ego intact and the self esteem healthy. Or do they?

Fall is one time of year that has, therefore, seemed to be a beginning, not an ending as some would have it. Spring is the historic time of beginnings and Summer is the time for growth. Well, because I loved school so much and spent so much of Summer bored when I was young, I now associate Fall with a time of growth and Winter is the time to think over the things I have learned and how they fit me. Just think, 2 growth periods per year. Yippee!