Loving Autumn

 September 25, 2021

After living in Florida for 47 years I was so hungry to see fall and the beautiful colored leaves.  We took a trip up to Asheville and as we drove through the beautiful mountains tears rolled down my face and I knew I had to live where there was four seasons again.  I grew up in the north but all I could think of when I saw fall was how much I dreaded going back to school.   I hated school so bad that I'm not sure I even noticed the beauty of autumn.  I sure do now.  

I helped rake leaves with the people we were staying with and I wanted so much to jump in the big pile.  Bob dared me and I did.  Right into a pile of leaves with yellow jackets.  Thankfully I didn't get stung.  

Stella knows how to enjoy piles of leaves!  I love watching this video and I hope you do too.

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Auntie Ruth's Cottage

 September 7, 2021

When I was a child I spent many summers undergoing plastic surgery for my cleft lip and palate.  As I healed I couldn't play sports or go swimming.  But I have some special non surgical memories of wonderful weeks spent in Stone Harbor, N.J.

My Auntie Ruth had a cottage down the shore (that's how we say it up there).  It was a small, cute cottage with a beautiful screened porch overlooking the bay.  We weren't too far from the Yacht Club and on Sundays there would be sailboat races that were fun to watch. It seemed that the adults got to sleep on the porch and I was envious.  Since then I've always wanted to live in houses with a screened porch.

In the kitchen, instead of a refrigerator there was an ice box and the ice man would deliver a big block of ice - how often I don't remember.  This was back in the 1940s. Looking back I can't imagine how they kept perishables safely. But we never got sick. The ice box looked something like this.

I spent many hours on the dock. Small stairs led down into the bay.  I used to be scared that one of the relatives of the crabs we caught and ate was going to bite my toes. I didn't like swimming in the bay much but it was nice to cool off.

Me on the dock

Me in the ocean

Often the Maryland cousins would come down and we'd have lots of fun together.   

I've been collecting pictures of Stone Harbor on Pinterest just for the happy memories.  I used to wonder what it would be like in the winter.  Actually I never wanted to leave. 

Later when I was a teenager we moved to Florida and I felt at home. It was like being down the shore with my soul at the beach.

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Lightning Bugs Are Back !

Last night I stepped out onto the porch and looked up, hoping.  Was it too early? Are they here yet?  Then I saw lights blinking up in the tree.  Yay, I thought excitedly, the lightening bugs are back!

For a moment I felt like a little girl again.  I grew up in New Jersey and every summer we enjoyed the lightning bug show.  Then, when I was a teenager we moved to Florida.  For awhile we saw them down there too but all too soon the fireflies disappeared.  Even so I would still look.

When we went back in 1989 for mother's funeral we stayed with an aunt and uncle next door to where I grew up.  We were sitting on the porch talking when suddenly lights began blinking outside.  My brother and sister in law were with us and we all leaped up to grab our cameras and ran outside.  Lightening Bugs!  "The tourists are here," our uncle exclaimed with a laugh.  

After moving to Western North Carolina we enjoyed the summer light show again.  Now I get to enjoy another summer watching the lights blinking at night.

Here is an interesting article about fireflies/lightening bugs.

I've been wanting to film a video of the lightening bugs.  Maybe this year I will.