Picture

All around my computer screen, there are snapshot pictures taped or tacked. A shrine to my family.

There is a picture of Honey and me at our wedding reception. My, we look young. I am standing behind him with my mother's pearls resting on his shoulder. You can see the spinach and artichoke dip, the garlic mashed potatoes, onion rings, fillet. Glasses of water are beaded with moisture. I can almost feel the warm Gulf breeze.

There is a picture of us in my mother's backyard on a wicker love seat next to the greying privacy fence. Jelly is sitting like a frog, completely unimpressed by Grandma's Thanksgiving picture taking rituals. Honey and I are smiling. Brother isn't looking at the camera. Scooter is a bald little cue ball.

Jelly is doing the bear-your-teeth smile of all preschoolers from inside the glowing igloo that is Christmas decoration. The bright white lights match his hair.

Brother is smiling, rosy cheeked. Dark, sparkly eyes. Bits of chocolate around his mouth. Dark sweaty hair, swept to the side.

A black and white ink print out of Honey and me at Chuck E. Cheese. My hair is long and held back by side barrettes. I am kissing his cheek and my nose is squished up from the pressure. There are glints of light in his glasses and a bewildered look on his face. Somehow, he never seems to know what is coming...

My favorite picture of Brother. He is two and sitting in a Cozy Coup (one of those stereotypical yellow and red cars every kid seems to have.) It is Christmas morning and he just got it. He loved it so much, he refused to get out. I had to feed him eggs through the window. His mouth is wide and open. I can count his teeth and see his tongue. The joy is leaking everywhere.

Scooter is laying on a cushion in front of our fireplace and stockings. He has no hair at all and great ears. All my kids have great ears, that stick straight out. Just like mine.

A computer printout of my handsome husband. It is a picture taken from a monitor's camera. He is wearing a green shirt (as always) and his dark rimmed glasses. There are a number of lanyards around his neck, presumably holding flash drives or server room keys. Under his smile, he is holding a neon yellow sticky note on which is written, "I love you!"

The most wonderful time of the year

Today was the start of our Fall CSA. I feel lucky/smug at the bag of beautiful vegetables sitting behind my desk and the vase of zinnias to my left. The colors look like summertime, even though it is a breezy 60 degrees outside. (Although still very VERY sunny. Still, closest we get to fall hereabouts.) My french doors are spread wide to let in the wind and the sun and the sounds of the train across the street. I like the green so close to me. Makes me forget I am cooped up in an office.

The farm we get our CSA from doesn't deliver to my town anymore and you have to go pick up in the Next Town Over. I have a friend who works from home who has agreed to go pick up our share for the next 6 weeks. I am planning in my head for eggplant lasagna and googling the best way to use flowering tarragon, which smells like licorice. Even more than the fresh produce, I love the sleuth-like creativity required to use all these veggies before next week's haul.

The acorns are thunking down on my car under the live oak in the parking lot. When I leave for the day, I turn on the windshield wipers to scatter the seeds as I am driving. I wonder about those little seeds and if they will ever make a tree on the side of the interstate.

Soon, good apples will be rolling into the supermarkets. We have 4 pumpkins on our front porch waiting to be carved into jack-o-lanterns. Finalization of Halloween costumes are in the works.

Oh, I love Fall.

Things I Like

A list for Friday, what is more appropriate? I thought in the spirit cheer, I would make a list of things that I like for one reason or another.

• Cafe Au Lait and Beignets late at night after an event. We took the kids after a wedding last weekend, but I also have fond memories of going after the opera.
• Women who swear. I can't really say why. I think it is because all of the broad-shouldered feminists in my life drop the f-bomb quite frequently. And I also think that one doesn't swear around folks they are uncomfortable around or unsure of. It is something you do when you are sure of someone. So I feel like I am an easy person to be around when a friend says 'shit' without apologizing.
• Plastic-y jewelry. There is a new shop in town that is like Claire's for big girls. They have stuff in a rainbow of colors. Something to match every thing in your wardrobe and the store is quite large. I am usually not a big jewelry person and for a long time I wouldn't wear anything that wasn't 'real', but my standards are relaxing.
• There are a couple new frozen yogurt kind of places in town where the yogurt is soft-serve style with a bunch of flavors. Pick as many flavors as you like and then add whatever kind of toppings you like, weigh it and voila! Custom yumminess. You can choose really healthy smaller portions and only pay for what you buy. (Or you can get the Chocolate Silk with crushed Thin Mints and Hot Fudge. I won't tell.) We have been taking the kids there because they usually have a dairy-free option for Scooter, who usually misses out on the ice cream runs.
• A clean house makes me feel really happy. I don't get to feel this kind of happy very often, mostly because I am a lazy such-and-such.
• Ordering things from Harry & David to mail to folks. Everything they have looks so yummy, but is mostly nut filled or paired with nuts, so a no-no for us. So I buy them for other people. I do the same thing with girl stuff. I have no use for it, but someone does! And it makes me happy to be able to buy it AND give a present. Two-fer.
• The Yamaha Clavinova electric piano in Brother's room as we speak. He has been attending lessons for about 2 months and is progressing nicely. I had been looking for a keyboard secondhand on craigslist. Usually they are about $1000-$1500 but I lucked out and got one for $400. I am so excited he is interested. I told that he will never ever regret keeping up with it, but he will surely regret quitting. That isn't an issue right now, but I am so pleased to be able to do this for him and possibly for Jelly and Scooter as well. Both Honey and I grew up with working parents who had no college education. There wasn't a lot of money for any kind of enrichment, even though we both wanted to learn to play music or take dance classes or join clubs. I am so so thankful I am able to do this for my kids. *Happy Sigh*
• All of you! I never would have thought 10 years ago that I would have waves of affection for folks who live in my computer and discuss what you write with my husband and friends...like you are real people! Yet, there you have it. Happy Friday!