No words....

In the absence of time and energy to articulate coherent thoughts, a photo blog of an early fall walk through the church garden.













And a special focus on the fungus among us...

Sweet Smell of Late Summer

As I walk up my driveway I'm surrounded by the sweet smell of wild grapes growing in the woods between my house and the church. The vines wind around trees and drape over the branches, and are very thick in some places, but it is hard to reach the grapes.

I don't think I even thought about wild grapes before I moved here, and last year this time when I first smelled them, I couldn't imagine where the smell was coming from. Last week I picked a few and ate them--so different from the grapes in the grocery store. These grapes remind me so much of the grapes my grandmother used when I was a child to make grape hull pie. She would squeeze the pulp out and use it to make grape jelly. Then she would cook the hulls with sugar and lemon and cinnamon to make pie filling. I've never seen grape hull pie anywhere else, but it one of my favorite childhood memories.

I wish I could blog the smell, but at least I can give you a picture.

What the....?!?

Can someone please explain to me why when I try to link to Grandma Blue's fireplacing comment, and I copy the url and paste it in, I end up with a link to MSN instead? I did it three times, just to make sure I wasn't getting the link wrong. Somehow between me pasting in the url and it getting published, it changes....I don't get it!

Edited to add: I think I fixed the link below. I don't know why it was so fireplaced up before; I did exactly the same thing just now that I did before. Oy.

I'm still here....

I've just been too fireplacing busy to post anything...even though I've had several things running around in my head I'd like to blog about. As of this afternoon I think I see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, and that feels good.

More later....

Life in the Fast Lane

A FridayFive meme from the RevGalPals:

1. Driving: an enjoyable way to clear the mind? a means to an end? a chance to be quiet with one's thoughts? a necessary evil? the downfall of our planet and its fossil fuels? Discuss.

At this point in my life, it's a means to an end because I live in a place where you must drive to get anywhere. No public transportation to speak of, and not at all walking-friendly, at least not to get anything done. Grrrr... That said, when I used to commute, I did use the time to think, and I like it quiet.

I do think that overreliance on the car is a problem for our society. We've constructed communities where one MUST use a car to get around. It makes us more isolated and less physically active besides being bad for the environment.

And (bracing for negative reactions) I think Americans' love affair with big heavy fancy cars, trucks, SUVs, etc. is a bit obscene.

2. Do you drive the speed limit? A little faster? Slower? Have you ever gotten a ticket?

I try to observe the speed limit when I'm driving around town. But on the highway, once I get going I tend to go faster than the limit, especially if traffic is moving along. But I don't enjoy going fast as much as I used to, and I hate going fast in really heavy traffic. And (knocking wood and crossing fingers) so far I've never had a ticket.

3. Do you take public transportation? When? What's your opinion of the experience?

When I lived in the city I took public transportation or walked everywhere and I loved it. I miss it. I'd love to live somewhere it was possible to do that again. I loved walking to church, to get groceries, to run errands, or just for fun. And I didn't mind the subway. Yes it could be crowded at times, but it was convenient.

4. Complete this sentence: Massachusetts has the worst drivers I've ever experienced.

Yes, without a doubt. And since I live in that fair state, I am qualified to judge. Moving here after not driving at all for three years, and then having lived in Vermont for the 8 years before that, Massachusetts drivers and Massachusetts traffic were a rude awakening and they still make me crazy. And rude? More horn beeping and impatience than in NYC, and with far less reason. And the rotaries? Bah!

5. According to the Census Bureau, reverendmother's fair city has the 6th longest average commute in the United States at 29 minutes each way. How does your personal commute rate?

1-2 minutes walking, but that's because I live right next door to the church.

Bonus for the brutally honest: It has been said, and the MythBusters have confirmed, that cell phones can impede driving ability almost as much as drinking. Do you talk on a cell phone while driving?

I try my best not to. But I don't talk on the phone much anyway. And I have a 5 speed and it's hard to hold the phone, steer and change gears, so that pretty much rules out talking while I'm driving locally. I guess if I wanted to talk in the car I'd get a head set.