FOUR DAYS IN MARYLAND WITH MY SISTERS

     It was a cold morning at 4:30am on October 27 when my taxi came to pick me up, with 8 inches of frozen snow on the ground. But Chestertown, MD was a different story, as you can see. Aside from the two photos of us at the docks, the other four show Chestertown sidewalk art, constructed around parking meters. These were in honor of both Hallowe'en and Open Studio Weekend. And with the tall ships in, the joint was really jumping! I'm giving you a background on these photos up front, as I have no idea in what format they will appear, or how to rotate them so they are right side up. Much learning for me in this area ahead---
   Friday was beautiful, and we strolled around the docks admiring the few ships that were in, and seeing the arty sights in town. We went out for dinner that evening, and as we were gathered around our table reading our menus, a familiar voice said "May I take your order?" It was Prue Potter, dining at a nearby table with Joel, Paige, her husband John, and their two beautiful children Lily and Grafton. Well, THAT was a surprise--Paige had recognized me, and was in ecstasies over seeing the MOTHER of  their favorite baby-sitter JULIE! We took a couple minutes for a fast catch-up---they live in the next-door town of Worton, and had come in to see the ships illuminated and to hear a talk on the book "Longitude" by Dava Sobel, which was fascinating. History and science mixed with adventure.
   Saturday, alas, was a washout, as the home-leaving storm arrived with driving rain and gale-force winds,and all the sails were cancelled. Our reservations were for that day, the only one possible, as travel home was set for Sunday. So we hung around Martha's fireplace in our pajamas, ate leftovers for lunch, and ordered in pizzas for supper.
   Sunday, of course, was sunny again, and we had an easy  trip to the airport (a little over an hour away). I was delighted to see that we still had white on our mountains as we dropped into Denver. Such a treat (the weekend), such good friends, and growing better by the year!
   Love and hugs,  Mom/Yia-Yia
   PS Our next storm arrives tonight  10 inches??

Need to get in my Happy Halloween quickly before it passes.  Enjoyed the blog activity.  I had been thinking about adding some thoughts but thinking doesn't get them on to paper.

We had a glorious fall with lots of great color as the view from my study illustrates.  Boulder has a lot of non native trees that add some brilliant reds to an otherwise yellow/orange palette.  We had no rain all month and many days where lunch on the deck was a delight.  We even got to Rocky Mountain National Park with a bit of color around.  Of course, that was all rudely ended with the foot of snow last Wednesday.  We lost a number of smallish branches that Rico and Reid got to the street pile for us on Saturday.  We have lost some leaves but the view from my study still has some color but rather tarnished.  I hope we get some wind to get more leaves off before the rain and snow return tomorrow with 8 more inches expected - of course, almost all of last week's foot of snow has melted except against the southern fence.

Mom was east for the weekend and I'll let her tell her story but it too involved weather.  I had a quiet time but very enjoyable while she was gone.  I moderated a very interesting discussion on Pakistan: Friend or Foe with three guests from CU - all PhD candidates - two men from Pakistan and one woman from India. They all spoke well, were informed and had many interesting things to say.  The woman was a film critic and talked about the villainous presentation of Pakistanis in Indian film - no way to change attitudes of the young.  It was all very civil and I think the three really enjoyed the exchange and the chance to meet some local people and others from South Asia.  I heard two great concerts - Mozart's Requiem on Saturday and,on Sunday, an electric violin quartet  that was amazing.  It included cymbals, and water filled glasses all played with violin bows.  The highlight of the weekend was an overnight visit from Fritz from Leadville.  He seemed in very good shape and it was fun to talk.

glad Rachael is enjoying Sydney, Emily survived her camp, Drew had a good parent's day and Sarah has the app off!  Good luck on the soccer when it comes.

Happy Halloween to all, as well. 
We have NO SCHOOL today! :) Sarah is home, too. No power or heat in the buildings.
It will be nice to have a calm celebration, enjoy trick or treating in town (streets closed, merchants give out candy), and carving pumpkins.
Drew arrived home safely after a fun and satisfying Parents' Weekend. He was able to spend some time with Matt and Joanie and her parents, watch a rugby match, and go to a class.
Sarah is still waiting to play the first round of sectional soccer play-offs. First game, on Saturday, got snowed out. The refs called it 5 minutes before kick-off. The rescheduled game was for Sunday but not possible with snow, power lines, tree limbs, etc,...Rescheduled for Halloween but no school,....Maybe tomorrow? I'll keep you posted,...yuk, yuk.

Where's Ours?!!

Okay, so where's our snow?  I'm feeling just slightly left out here...!

Sadly there's nothing even resembling snow here at the moment.  On the contrary, things are starting to heat up and the humidity levels are on the rise.  We've had a week of cloudy weather, with a few downpours.  Unfortunately for Emily, several of them happened while she was on camp...she was NOT, as the saying goes, a happy camper!  But she survived and even has a sunburned nose, so it wasn't all doom and gloom.  She had a very peaceful solo night perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking a secluded cove, with NO RAIN! I'll ask her about photos and post them when available.

Rachael is still in NSW - last we heard (on Saturday) she and her friends were heading inland to visit a guy from the trip who lives on an alpaca farm.  No phone reception out there, so we haven't had an update.  Ken and I rather enjoyed the slower pace during our 4 childless days, but it's nice to have Emily back!  Tomorrow is Melbourne Cup Day, and can you believe there is a horse running this year by the name of "Niwot"!! You know who my money will be on!

By the way, HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!

October Snow, East Side!

Can you find the ghosts among the snowflakes? How about the morning glories?

So bizarre,...a cane with a red ribbon appeared in our hallway last week. Now, it's snowing,...???

Big Snow

It's wild to hear about Sarah moving forward in the college choice journey! Closing up the shore seems a long way away from waking up with temperatures in the teens in a winter wonderland. As forecasted, we did get the big snow and it turned out to be a solid foot here at our house. There were a huge amount of tree limbs down around town and thousands without power. We were lucky that we didn't lose any limbs because our big tree had lost most of its leaves already. Of course we didn't have a snow day- Colorado schools are tough! I snapped this photo after lunch recess today from the back door of the school. It looks like February with a little october color thrown in.

October

Hmmm,...those "lasts" are starting to roll along. Beginning with, "The next time I sleep in this bed, I'll have graduated from high school and I'll probably know where I'm going to college.", said Sarah as we were closing up the shore on Columbus Day.

Sarah has played her last regular season Varsity soccer game. Sectional play-offs start on Saturday. After the last home game (it was quite late), the traditional flowers, gifts, speeches, and hugs were given by the coach and underclassmen. It was also MAC Field Day so Sarah looked a bit like Brave Heart - blue and white face paint.
Last moment before a college application has been submitted,...was last night before she clicked the submit button on the Common App. - so different than addressing, sealing, and sending those heavy envelopes!
Yes! We got pumpkins and Drew is taking one down to Matt for Parents' Weekend. I will send along some goodies from the oven since I am staying here to cheer for the soccer team.