All the Leaves

This week has been picture perfect.  Whenever I look out a window or take a walk, I want to hit the pause button and keep this wonderful season on hold.  The leaves are nearly off the trees. There was a gusty wind that blew through earlier in the week and dispersed all leaves everywhere.  Most of my trees are:  oak, maple, dogwood, black walnut, sassafras, aspen, pine, sumac and sycamore.  I am blessed with an array of multicolored leaves.

I'm pleased to report I'm feeling better every day.  While I do two more weeks of physical therapy, I've decided to join a gym and have a personal trainer and gently start a strengthening program. (I might be a jellyfish in disguise.) I'll be doing this until....well until.  I've thought long and hard about how much I want to never be in pain - this to me is a reasonable doable goal.

The gym has experience with people coming out of a muscle injury and I explained the RA stuff.  So I'm excited.  I feel like I am in charge and doing something good.  I'll let you know how it goes.  Wish me luck as I improve my core and strength and de-jelly myself.

If I sit 'just so' and focus on relaxing, I can get into my knitting groove - what joy!  Yesterday, I was blissed out knitting away and totally into knitting each and every stitch.  Everyone should be a knitter, right?  The whole tactile experience along with a meditative movement gets me calm and content every single time.

My little 18 month charge that I babysit has been entertaining immensely.  She is walking everywhere and while most of her chatter is jibber jabber, sometimes I catch a word or two that makes me think she's talking!  I look forward to seeing her and being a part of her life.

Frodo appears to have done the time change a week early.  He is ready to play at nine o'clock at night and we are both weary dog owners.  What is going on?  I have done my best today to wear him out during the daytime in high hopes tonight is the night he just goes to sleep.  We will see.  Sometimes I think he is the one in charge.

A childhood memory that I recall clearly was when our family still lived in the city.   My mother, my little sister and I were walking on a herringbone pattern brick sidewalk overflowing from dropped oak trees.  My sister and I were wearing home sewn dresses with white tights and black patent leather dress shoes.  I was kicking the leaves as high as I could while my little sister giggled with glee.  We were both laughing and enjoying being little kids.  My mom was smiling at our joy.  We had leaves stuck to our tights and in our hair and on our coats.  What a treasure to have that moment forever etched into my memory and maybe that is why I love this season.