Ooh jealous. I miss the Smokies.

In fact, I am all sorts of homesick for autumn, and I can't work out why. It's never hit me like this before and I'm really happy and contented in my life. But boy howdy do I miss midwestern fall. There are trees that turn here (although not in my neighborhood) but they only turn yellow. There are no reds and no oranges. It's very weird. And then it's mostly junipers and pines anyway, which I appreciate in the deep of winter, but right now I want autumn.

I would like to go apple picking!

I ADORE apple picking. Really I am starting to think it is a sin to live in places that apples won't grow.

It's so fun and easy! And mostly a nice drive to the country and then a lot of cooking -- IME, more apples than you need get picked in about 15 minutes.

And no, I don't really care about the name. It's for regular use, so no one's really going to be looking at it. BUT! I could make up some story about how I stole it off a dead man's body if people ask! That would be awesome.

That would be awesome! The back of my hand is still blue from the dog-walking incident, and I told my husband I wanted to tell people I'd been in a fight. He didn't seem to think that was likely.

Liese, I'll e-mail you about the Bible. I'm thrilled it's going to someone I know and who will use it. It really is a lovely book -- gilt edges, maps, indices, etc.

Home to my folks for Turkey Day, Canadian Edition.

Ditto

I like apple picking, too. Maybe they'll still be in season when I visit my friend in Charlottesville in a few weeks.

Tonight: put my bare-root rose in a pan of water with some powdered vitamin B (it supposedly encourages root growth), meet my friends for media night.

Tomorrow: running group, plant the rose, go to wine tasting.

Sunday: as little as humanly possible. Maybe laundry, but no promises.

Sweet. Will look for the email. You can be assured that I'll bang it up and scratch the gilt off! Hee.

I love apple picking too! It used to be one of my favorite growing up in Ohio things.

And we had a great orchard in New Mexico, although not a pick-your-own. But here we're missing it. I was actually thinking about looking for one.

There's actually some sort of orchard on our way to our farmer neighbor, but I don't know if it's nuts or what, and they never put a sign out, so they are either not actively cultivating or they don't sell to the public. It's not apples, though, because I can't see the fruit.

Okay, I lied. I know I have your e-mail address somewhere, but I can't find it. Can you e-mail me?

I'm also missing Fall and really missing my mom (and dad, too). I've been having fantasies about moving closer. Can't tell if it's just hormones/nesting or my real feelings. We'll find out, I guess. I love this time of year, so it's kind of sucky to feel melancholy. But I am really excited to be getting closer to meeting my son!