Fall, Fake Fall, and I Better Not Trip and Fall

After False Fall in Georgia, which (obviously) was only brought on by a hurricane, we've had blistering summer again. There's nothing so discouraging as having a whiff of a cool breeze, only to be followed by the sun laughing in our faces, the sweat rolling down our backs, dogs lolling about on porches like they're in a coma. There ain't no way I'm buying pumpkins for my front stoop right now, even if they do look adorable out there. But I did check the weather a minute ago and another hurricane is headed to the gulf. Pity that people have to suffer for us to get some cooler temperatures. It's late September. My California neighbors came driving in last night. They live here part-time, and I'm sure by now they think we've all lost our sanity with all the fluctuations. But they also say that they love the Southern kindness and connection that they have found here. I need to work harder at being Southern...

Our musical Italy trip in June left me reeling with so many thoughts and ideas, but it also left me with a messed-up Achilles tendon. You'd think with as much time to prepare for that trip, I'd have been walking on the daily. But no...I had better things to do -- chatting, doing puzzles, eating bon-bons.  So now, after various attempts at healing it, I've been in a boot for many weeks. At the beach, I thought it prudent to leave it off, with so much sand and trips to the pool. Who wants to strap on that monstrosity, when you're just going to take it back off? Upon arriving home, my doctor gave me the stink-eye as he asked me where my boot was (I forgot to put it on and keep up hypocritical appearances). I blithely told him I was feeling pretty good and that I'd been at the beach all week. He reached down and gently squeezed my Achilles, which resulted in wailing and gnashing of teeth. More of the eye-thing, and he said, "You're going backwards. Get that boot back on, go back to physical therapy and come back in three weeks." So again, I'm dragging it around like an appendage, thinking "What hump, Master?" I know this travail is very small potatoes, compared to other peoples' pain and trials...I see people in stores with contraptions where their knee is bent into a 90 degree angle and they are hobbling around with some sort of trolley. Then there's the guy at the gym (not that I've been lately) who only has one leg and looks like Adonis. My apologies to him and the others, but apparently I'm milking it for all it's worth.  I've got stuff to do but God keeps slowing me down. 

So here's to cooler weather, prayers for folks in hurricane paths (including us) and a dream for pumpkins on the porch. I'm not even gonna get started on the fact that I put all four of my decrepit Christmas trees at the curb last spring (yes, all of them). I just might be on a waiting list for just the right tree at Home Depot, jus' sayin'...