Leaves are a changin'

 

It's that time of year when the trees around are preparing for the dormancy of winter and shedding their leaves. But not without first putting on a spectacular show of color. I enjoy this change every year but am in special awe of it this year. I look around and can't believe how lucky I am to be able to experience the glorious show nature is putting on. Just like magic, there is an ever-changing beautiful scene to see. Every corny thing you can think of to describe the colors of the changing leaves I am thinking.

Fall has always been a special time. When we were kids, my sisters and I would walk around the neighborhood and collect colorful leaves. Then we'd take them home and dip them in hot wax to preserve them. That way, we could enjoy the color for months after the leaves outside were gone. 

After I left college, I lived along the Gulf Coast, where there were not four distinct seasons, and I missed the fall colors. I had one friend whose mother would mail her a box of fall leaves every year as a reminder of home in the northeast. When I moved back north, and my friend was still in the south, I also mailed her leaves because her mother had since passed away. 

Our tree, which turned a brilliant red in the fall, was lost in a storm last year. However, as I look out my windows, the neighbors' trees are more than making up for it. I am so lucky.

All is Well

 Ward and I are completely well after our bouts with COVID, and according to the CDC, today, I am free to move about without a mask on. After the first positive test, the game changes to days and symptoms- no negative test is needed as long as you've been without a fever for 24 hours and symptoms are improving. Current guidelines have you isolating for 5 days and wearing a mask for 5 days after that. I am on day 11 but will continue to wear a mask as I did before. We are both very thankful that we had mild cases, probably because we are fully vaccinated and boosted. And very grateful for the technology and researchers that made them possible.

I haven't been out of the house much for the last two weeks, so I had the Go-fever, as we used to call it as kids. To treat my Go-fever, Ward and I set off on a drive to look at the fall leaves, which are in all of their glory. But a funny thing happened on the way, we passed a sign for Gathland State Park, and I decided that was where we needed to be. 

Gathland belonged to George Alfred Townsend and was the site of the Civil War Battle of South Mountain. Townsend was a reporter during the Civil war and decided he liked the area while working there. Rumor has it that he got 100 acres cheap because people didn't like former battle sites. His penname was Gath, thus the name Gathland State Park.

Gathland is popular with hikers because the Appalachian Trail runs through it. In fact, Ward had been there several times on backpacking trips, but I had only been there once for a drop-off for one of those trips. We had a nice hike and saw some interesting history. And I was oh so happy to be out again. 

Below are a few more details of our outing.

The arch in the back is a memorial to journalists who lost their lives in the Civil War. Townsend built it in 1896 and it was the first of its kind. In the foreground are a few of the numerous signs describing the battle that took place there.

There were tributes to other journalists as well as those from the Civil War.

This was his wife Bessie's house. It housed a kitchen and meeting rooms. Today it is a museum about being a reporter during the Civil War.

The floor inside the museum was covered with an annotated carpet map of the area - a first for me.

Townsend had a total of nine buildings on his property. Unfortunately, we couldn't find anything identifying this ruin, although it might have been a barn.

After exploring the central area, we hiked. The trail was nice, although rocky.

In fact, the whole area was rocky, and there was a prevalence of stone walls on the farms in the area. This was one of Townsend's.

An overnight shelter for through hikers on the Appalachian Trail. According to Ward, this was a nice one.

The park has many more places to explore, and we will definitely be making a return trip.

Until next time...

I've Joined the Crowd

Anemone

Just like clockwork, five days after Ward came down with COVID, I tested positive. This is my second day, and it's not too bad. I had a fever that broke last night, and I feel better today than yesterday. Now it's just the common respiratory symptoms, a runny nose, a hacking cough, and some achiness.

Ward is on day seven and is feeling much better. In fact, according to the CDC, he's free to move about with a mask, so he's out getting some groceries for us. He is very happy to be out of the house, and we are both happy that we do not have to keep up the vigilance of staying apart. In fact, the first thing we did was sit together on the couch - a welcome change from the past week.

To get some fresh air this afternoon, I looked at some of the flowers in the yard. Even though the cats protested, it was good to get off the couch. Below are a few pictures.

These mums are quite the show-stopper every year.

A lone surviving zinnia among the mums.

Various vincas are still blooming around the yard, but our first frost last week has slowed them down quite a bit.

I put these marigolds in late, so they're just starting to bloom. 

These mums were some that Miss Landers was throwing out. I take seasonal mums that people don't want and plant them with varying success. I can usually get a couple more seasons out of them before they die out.

Same story with these mums.

Until next time...

We've Joined the Majority

Ward tested positive last Saturday for COVID, which means that our family joined the many other families who have had a member with COVID. In April, over half (58%) of the US population had already had COVID infections; no doubt, this number is even higher now. In the almost 3 years since the coronavirus was discovered, our family has been able to dodge getting infected. However, even though we have been careful, the coronavirus is so widespread it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Ward missed Family Day at Theo's
work because he was sick.

So far, Ward's infection is no worse than a bad cold. He feels well enough that he is getting bored because he has been sequestered to just a few rooms in the house. In the mornings, before I go to work, I make sure he has food, drink, and activities to fill his time until I get back since he's not allowed in the kitchen, the basement, our bedroom, or the den. He's working on a puzzle right now. I anticipate that in a few days, he should be good to join the world again. But this virus, if nothing else, is unpredictable. So we shall see.

In the meantime, Theo and I are symptom-free and are testing negative. And with every day that goes by, I feel more confident that things will stay that way. But we shall see.

We all feel lucky that we have been fully vaccinated and boosted because things could be much worse.

Home Again

One of our rest stops. 

We drove home yesterday from our vacation. The original plan was to do another sightseeing stop on the way home, but the weather convinced us otherwise. The first four hours of the trip were in cold rain and fog before letting up to light rain. And after about an hour into the trip, our minds had switched out of vacation mode into home mode - meaning we had stopped thinking about hikes and ice cream shops and started thinking about what we left undone at work and the chores waiting for us. Also, we missed our purring, demanding cats. So other than bathroom breaks, we powered through the trip without stops until we were home. 

We've emptied our suitcases, done the laundry, and gone through the mail. And now we have to deal with the annoyances of everyday life. For example, within the last week, Wally, Theo, and Ward and I have all had our credit cards compromised. We wonder what's going on. Is credit card theft so prevalent that this is just a coincidence? Or are we all in some database that was compromised? Whatever the case, it's a big hassle. 

And on that cheery note, 

Until next time...