It was a dark, rainy and foggy night. It was my first experience of driving in the dark to church because there have been plenty of times I've driven home in the dark from choir practice. As with any road you begin to mark your signposts of recognition. There are two curves that kind of sneak up on me in the dark and I am more aware of where they are and once I have passed the signs on the top of the hill informing the driver of a church entrance I know my next turn will be rather immediate. So looking at the road in the dark from the opposite direction will take some practice of finding the signposts that mark the journey. Thankfully it is just about four miles to and from church but in the dark, misty, foggy and rainy night...it seems a lot longer.
With all the fog last night I anticipated the morning to have its fill of fog but it proved to be rather clear and only the shrouds of fog laying or lying...I don't remember the correct usage...in the valleys. The fall foliage is still bright and wonderful around here with the higher elevations now past their peak or so say the experts. On FB and in an email on Sunday the official end of the fall foliage report was listed over for 2015 and informed the immediate closings on the Parkway and those that will be closing in several days. Wow, it kind of felt somewhat like the holidays some years...lots and lots of build up, boom Christmas morning...and then what? It's over. In Houston Roy and I would drive around just to watch people trying to find someplace that was open...to get away from all the family or just trying to do something. One year the Walgreen's parking lot was jam packed with people needing something to do. So here this October, the crowds at restaurants have cause quite a wait for a table and there have been no rooms at the inn or hotel or motel. Then boom, November 1st...boom...officially fall foliage is over. I think I will continue to celebrate the autumnal colors for a little longer. This time last year the area had already had the first snow and this year we will have temps closer to the 70's by the end of the week. All in all my first October in the mountains was a fabulous one. Loved that I actually got to experience fall, oh autumn...it was great!
I had a bit of a crisis on Saturday afternoon and it all had to do with a dryer. It is no secret that I don't really care for the washer and dryer that came with the house. They are old, non energy efficient and I miss the steam feature on a dryer because with it, no ironing happened. It is not happening now either because I don't have an iron here...accept me wrinkled or don't. Thus I love flannel and jeans cause neither one needs to be ironed. But I have gone down a bunny trail...anyway, I felt that the dryer was no longer drying clothes. The time needed to get things dry was way too long. So first thing, I went outside with the lint brush to clean out the dryer vent. Yes, little Miss Safety climbed up on an outdoor chair but it wasn't high enough to do a good job. So, out came the ladder but I was afraid I would splatter if I climbed too high. I was good for about two rungs and then my sense of balance that no longer lives with me on a full time basis exited and I knew I could not go up any higher. I did remove a more lint. Because I was unhappy with the prospect of no dryer I did the only thing a rational woman would do, I told Roy that I was going to Lowe's and getting a new washer and dryer...even though on my insides I was saying...uh, you just got a new heat pump, propane tank and generator...taxes will be due soon...don't like credit card debt...this is such an empty threat. Roy suggested I ask around about repairmen that could look at the thing and be strong enough to clean out the dryer hose because the heating element still worked. Yea, well...ok. Then I took several things out of the dryer and in true you do what you have to do form, hung clothes over the railings on the stairs, over the backs of chairs and across the iron foot boards of the twin beds upstairs. Can I get a yehaw?! I now own some duct tape and I wasn't too far from using it to hang up clothes but I resisted that thought, thankfully. I then started drying a smaller amount of clothes and it was a miracle! The dryer worked! Note to self flannel, sweatshirts and jeans are not a good combination in a dryer and maybe a smaller load would also be advisable.
The misty rain is starting again. My cup of coffee and a good book or maybe I should start out by reading the Good Book...are beckoning and I must respond. It is one of those days I really like...overcast with rain...with no place I have to be and no one officially here doing some kind of work.
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