quotes for the week about autumn

It's finally fall here in Houston, so here are some autumn quotes.

P.S. Last night was a disappointment.  One more chance to Take It Back!!!

I Loved New York (Except for the Food Poisoning)

My sister and I like to visit New York in the fall.  This year the weather was perfect.  This time we stayed at the Lexington Hotel, which has housed a lot of celebrities including Dorothy Lamour (Remember her?) and Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio.
  
We arrived on a Thursday afternoon and met our cousins for dinner that evening at Davio's.  We had fun catching up and sharing memories.

Friday we spent the morning at the Jewish Heritage Museum to see a fascinating exhibit about Auschwitz, then ate lunch at their cafe, Lox. Yes, most of their selections feature lox.  

We had a lovely dinner and then saw "Fiddler on the Roof" in Yiddish.  It was wonderful, even though half way through I started feeling sick.  By the time we left, I was feeling awful.  Luckily, my sister is an expert at flagging down taxis, and fortunately, the driver had a supply of plastic bags when I needed one.  Apparently the delicious chicken I had for dinner gave me food poisoning. 

 By the next day I was well enough to go to "Hadestown," which won the Tony for best musical.  Unfortunately, I got my dates mixed up and we started off at "To Kill a Mockingbird."  Our tickets were for the next day, but we rushed over to "Hadestown" and luckily, the theater had our order in their files.  It was interesting--the story of Orpheus and Eurydice.  The dancing was great but I probably wouldn't want to see it again--maybe it was the aftereffects of the food poisoning.  

My sister went to dinner with friends Saturday evening but I wasn't ready to be around food so I stayed at the hotel and tried to watch the Astros.  Alas, something was wrong with Fox Sports and every few minutes the picture and sound would disappear.  Probably for the best since the Astros lost.

Sunday we used our "Mockingbird" tickets.  I worried that I wouldn't like the play because it's my favorite book and I was afraid they'd mess up the story.  But they didn't.  It was the best play I've seen in ages.  If you go to New York, don't miss it.

During our free time we played Scrabble, a must on our sister-trips.  I won all 3 games.  At $2.00 a game, that equals $6.00 (which doesn't do one much good in New York City).  I keep a running total of our games and I'm $12.00 ahead.  My sister denies this; she only totals the current game, but she's wrong!

Monday we left, with memories of another sister-adventure fresh in our minds.

Quote for the Week: I Have Only Just a Minute

Representative Elijah Cummings passed away this week.  A civil rights activist, he was respected by House members on both sides of the aisle.  An article I read mentioned that he read the following poem by Dr. Benjamin Mays as part of the first speech he gave before Congress.  Here it is:

I have only just a minute,
Only sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon me, can't refuse it.
Didn't seek it, didn't choose it.
But it's up to me to use it.
I must suffer if I lose it,
Give account if I abuse it.
Just a tiny little minute,
But eternity is in it.

I'd love to hear your comments.

And Go 'Stros--better than last night, I hope.

Fall in Texas

Mid-October, and it's fall here in Houston.  Not really, of course.  The autumn equinox happened in September, a month ago.  But here, fall arrives in its own time and announces itself with a cool breeze, bright sunshine and cloudless skies.  I sit outside, and as I breathe in the crisp air, I remember the falls of my childhood.

Autumn always brought new energy--the new school year, new classes, new clothes, the season of possibilities.   The night sky seemed blacker, the stars brighter and though the days were shorter, they seemed sunnier.

I associated fall with the smell of outdoor cooking.  The neighbors down the street would barbecue outside, and the odor of cooking meat would drift down to our house.

Fall was football.  Texas has always been the home of Friday Night Lights and in those childhood years, football for me was Hyde Park Stadium, home of the Austin High Maroons.  My father took me to my first game between Austin High and a school whose name I don't recall, but I remember the cheers and the noise and excitement.  On Saturdays in the time when the University of Texas ruled the football world, there were games in Memorial Stadium--orange and white uniforms against the green grass, the UT Cowboys marching group and the band playing "The Eyes of Texas."

Fall was Halloween costumes, the thrill of being out in the dark, candy (which we rarely ate) and the anticipation of trick or treating at the big white house on Enfield Road which never seemed to have any lights on or any cars in the driveway.  With a mixture of excitement and teror, we would ring the doorbell.  A man in the shadowy front hall would hand us a few gum drops and slam the door.  Perhaps he was a pre-Mockingbird Boo Radley.

When I had children of my own, I relived those Halloween nights as I trailed along on their trick or treat route.  I still have the little pink hat with bunny ears that my daughter wore on her first Halloween.

The trees in Texas autumns are lackluster.  Leaves don't turn this far south, so we never saw the vivid colors that appear in other parts of the country.  Oaks grow in Texas, and acorns are abundant here.  We used to pick them up on the school playground, take them home, shellac them and string them into necklaces.  Pecans are plentiful, too, and my cousin and I would walk the neighborhood gathering them.  The fact that they were from other people's yards never deterred us.

* * *

A couple of days pass and it's summer again--90 degrees with high humidity.  The short autumn interlude has ended but in a few days or a few weeks, it will return.  Perhaps it will last a little longer, perhaps not.  It may bypass us altogether and winter will take its place.  Such is fall in Houston, a season that's not too hot, not too cold, and far too brief.

* * *

This year, forget football.  Fall is the World Series and after beating the Yankees in a perfect, series ending walk-off ninth inning home run by Jose Altuve, the Astros are ready to meet, and we hope beat, the Washington Nationals.  First game is Tuesday and I'll be watching.

Books of September

Here's a new book by Ruth Ware, author of The Woman in Cabin 10.  A young woman is hired to be a nanny for the children of a wealthy couple in Scotland.  The house is strange, part original Victorian and part high tech.  The children are strange.  The parents leave for a conference and almost immediately weird things happen.  Ghosts?  Intruders?  The book begins with the nanny in prison for murdering one of the children.  Did she do it?  If not, who did?  I enjoyed the book although it's not going to be on my list of favorites.

This story takes place in a private school in Japan and consists of confessions from  a teacher and various students about the murder of the teacher's young daughter.  It was a bit slow at the beginning but I enjoyed it once I got into it.  It's kind of unusual.  You might give it a try.

Quotes for the Week

What Makes Someone a Hero?

I think a hero is someone who willingly and more often unwillingly faces adversity and survives it  because she must and through it becomes a stronger person.

When I was 19, my dress caught fire from a stove and I was severely burned.  I had no choice but to endure months of pain and  afterward I realized the ordeal made me a stronger person.

I think everyone has been a hero in some way in their life.  What do you think?  Have you been a hero?

P.S. I notice most of the above quotes are about men.  Women, unite!  We are heroes, too.