Had a fun family hike on a wonderful, crisp, sun-filled fall day. It was at Clayton Park in Monmouth County, but you'd swear you were in New England instead of poky Jersey. The woods were dazzling in every possible shade of red, gold, and green, and they spread up and down over rolling hills. The four boys and a girl--doesn't that sound like a forties singing group?--had a ball running and jumping and rolling down hills. They found a "geo-cache" in the hollow of a fallen tree and we signed the notebook inside; it had originated back in April of 2009.* We probably covered only a mile or so, in that our progress followed anything but a straight line (kids don't go i straight lines), but no matter, it was fine to be there.
After going back to a hiker's house with the rest of the gang, I said goodbye about 4:30. Wanted to get home before full dark, which I barely did, now that DST is over, darn it.
When I got home, I had several messages, one from an acquaintance, Rosemary D., asking if I could substitute for her at the food bank today. By the time I got back to her, though, she had found somebody else. Got a call from Flo L., inviting me to their annual Christmas party, which I accepted with pleasure, of course. Jack B. called me back and we talked about my visit to brother Larry's. He's doing okay, although bum knees (that expression, "bum" whatevers, used to be common--don't hear it much anymore) are slowing down his golf game. Also talked to Leslie; tomorrow, we're going on our bus adventure to Toms River--should be fun. Finally, had my regular Sunday Skype session with dear daughter, Ellen. She said she'd arrange for our tickets to and from California--yay!
Lunch with Betty this afternoon.
WIDER: My final--well, only--words on the recent election follow. Okay, okay, they're not my words, they're Rob Payne's on his "Halcyon Days" blog, but he says it so well in a recent post, I'm adding it here:
"...The election results have changed nothing. Evidently American voters are too stupid to see any connection between their dire economic predicament and the trillion dollar wars that they ignore for the most part.."
Wish I could argue with you, Rob, but you're spot-on.
* A geo-cache, of which I had never heard before yesterday, is the interesting practice many follow all over the country. The idea is for people to stow small items in a container, along with a place to record information. Others find it, exchange items for what's in there, then sign the book. I'm going to look further into this on the Internet--sounds like fun.