Enjoying My Own Company

This summer was cooler than usual and seemed short. Autumn started early and the air has been chilly on given days. The trees seem slow to color and are coloring sporadically in clumps rather than whole trees. The colors seem muted as well. Then this week gully washing rains came. It started with a slow steady rain and then continued to pour down three or four inches of water a day. The days were dark, and when the rain stopped yesterday, the temps fell to middle thirties making it seem like December instead of mid-October.

We started the day slowly here, feeling like the cold and dark morning air was a harbinger of winter we did not want to see yet. The Saturday morning tea was Snickerdoddle Cookie, a nice green tea but sweet. I feel it is too much a dessert to use everyday, as I like to start my day with a brisk and hearty black tea. However, this is one of DH’s favorites, and it was a good choice for a slow Saturday. I set out things for lunch, planned supper, and hunkered down for a reading in a new book. I started the novel Olive Kitteridge, and it was a good choice for a lazy morning read.
So today when the sun came out and the afternoon turned a bright 50, I took myself on an outing. A bean pot supper was cooking in the crock; DH was hunkering down with his wind class books. Everyone else probably was at family events on Saturday or out doing fall festivals, so I spent time with myself. I can be a great deal of fun and enjoy my own company!

I dropped some things by a friend’s house, and she was not home so I left the bag on her porch, and headed for the flea market. There were several new booths, and I saw lots of Blue Willow today. The pieces were all ones I had, but it was interesting to see the Willow appear. Sometimes you don’t see a piece, other times it pops up in several booths. What I did find was another wood duck for son’s new kitchen and two brown and white cups that were exactly the same pattern of two odd saucers I had picked up in a flea markets a few weeks ago! My find made me feel lucky!

So I went by the post office to drop in a poetry submission and send it on its way a hopeful future. Then I went to Sonic Happy Hour for a cheap drink. I was enthralled by the brilliant sunshine and the leaves that had turned here and there. Several leaves have fallen and the rain knocked off more so I feel we need to appreciate whatever we see right now. Then I drove around the town square and noticed the antique mall had a lovely Halloween window. While I did not need a thing, I pulled in to kill some time and see if I had more “shopping luck”.

Indeed I did. Found the loveliest book booth that caught my eye with a sign that said: Books You Should Read $2.00. I gave the shelf a gander and found great tittles that I appreciated and some I had not read. The titles were great and the owner had put the books in great groupings so shoppers could find their interest easily. I brought home Lowry’s Silent Boy, Lee Smith’s Family Linen, some Chevalier titles, and a wonderful children’s book with a CD called Old Turtle.

In this market I also found a 1950’s tablecloth in pinks and blues. I hate the thoughts of ironing it and tending a table with this kind of fabric, but every now and then the using of lovely old textiles is worth the trouble. DH has no idea how lucky he is to have homemade food set on table with lovely old dishes and atmosphere of days gone by!