Sacrilege?

My first real loss was when my maternal grandfather passed away. My Pop Pop was the absolute light of my life and when he died the summer I graduated from high school, I was devastated. Pop Pop showed me how to do everything he did on the farm and, being a bit of a tomboy, I took to it like a duck to water. I know this house like the back of my hand, but it's been a long time since I've walked the property lines of this farm and I was in for a workout.

It's been a long time since I've had a really bad spell with my grief. By "long time" I mean it's been several weeks since I've cried or spent a sleepless night. I haven't had a panic attack in several months. Things seem easier right now. Much of that can probably be attributed to being very busy and socially engaged. I'm heading into a stretch now where I'll have a lot more down time on my hands and while I'll be busy writing, I'll still have time to get in my head.

I'm not a huge planner. I fly by the seat of my pants most of the time so when my niece texted early this week and said she had a three day weekend break from college, I'm like "Heck yeah, girlfriend...I'm there!" No matter that I left the farm at 9:30 and didn't get to my niece's sorority house till 6:30. I'm all about the trip!

In mid-November of 1966, five men were digging a grave near Clendenin, West Virginia when they reportedly saw a "bird man" with a seven foot wingspan swoop down over them. The next month, two couples were cruising the backroads in a area called TNT outside of Point Pleasant, West Virginia (named for the old munitions plant that was located there) when they saw the same creature swoop down over their car. It allegedly followed the car for some distance and understandably freaked the couples out. This was big news and in all the papers at the time.

I swear...this has been a really busy autumn! My niece texted me last week and she has a three day weekend break from college so I'm off to Indianapolis today to explore with her. I can't wait! I've loved her since the moment I held her in my arms when she was born.

I really don't know anything about Indianapolis other than driving through on I-70 when I go cross-country. Is there anything I really shouldn't miss??? I'm not taking TOW-Wanda. She's just too big and cumbersome on trips like this. I have GOT to get a smaller trailer so I'm more apt to take off and explore. The right one will come along. I'm going camping one last time on the weekend of October 21st then TOW-Wanda gets put to bed for the winter. At least she's here at the farm so I can go out and visit.

I was climbing these 9 times a few times a week before I left for Colorado in June. Then I got altitude sickness, and since I'm already prone to heat exhaustion, I shied away from exercising much this summer. Fortunately, I had enough muscle mass built up that I didn't gain weight in this three months. Now that it's cooler, I'm hitting the steps again. I did them twice last week. Yesterday I climbed them five times. I'm certainly not in as bad shape as I was when I first started, but...wow! I was working it that fifth time up! It feels SO good though and the results are well worth the effort.

I think you all will agree I'm a pretty upbeat person. Oh, I have my moments of sadness but they are less dark and less frequent as time passes. I went to a family wedding over the weekend. Hotels and motels are hard to come by in those parts so I stayed with my uncle and aunt. The aunt that lived here at the farm is staying there so I had an opportunity to visit them the night before the wedding. My aunt's brother and his wife were also there. It was nice to see them. But...it was also very sad. My uncle's wife has Alzheimer's.

The wind is carrying a chill these days. Leaves fly and spin on the breeze and soon they will blanket the floor of our woods like a dark, damp carpet. There is a constant rustling noise in the background and the sound of the dew dropping is a higher pitch than when the leaves were green. The hummingbirds are gone, headed south for warmer climes. Clouds roll over the ridge across the road as chickadees fight over who gets to sit at the feeder.

I drove through the misty grey morning and prayed the sky would break in time for the wedding. The bride has waited a long time for her match...I wanted it to be the perfect day for her. I waited in line with the other guests to be shuttled to the top of the hill on a flatbed trailer filled with quilt-covered hay bales. Once seated, I gazed out over the valley below. The mist rolled in under heavy, low-lying clouds. It felt like visiting the English countryside.