Looks like fall has finally arrived. We are the beautiful fall colors and some much needed rain. The rain makes everything look like an impressionistic painting. Nice to look at if one doesn't have to drive. So many drivers seem to think they can go the same spreed in rainy weather as they do in dry.

It's been a long week. Lots of ups and downs.

"Let's Write 3" began on Monday. Lots of new faces and a great class, as always. I'm really excited that we are all going to get more personal attention from our moderator. She offered to look at some of our work. Only trouble is, I can't decide which project to let her critique!

My cousin in the nursing home had a bad spell on Tuesday night. It didn't look like she would make it through the night. Since it was a "dark and stormy night" literally--we weren't able to make the hour and a half drive. A call before we went to bed let us know she'd taken a turn for the better. That was good news.

On Wednesday, my usual school day routine got turned upside down. I had blankets to wash at the Loveland Laundromat. Didn't see my old friend from last year. There were lots of changes, new paint, new signs and new dryers. The black lacquered bathroom was the same though. Only this year they had a sliver of soap. After washing the blankets, I planned to write. Instead, I met Mom and Sister #2 so that we could go to the nursing home and visit my cousin.

Had a funny moment there. One of the nurses' aids said someone had said to her, "I didn't know there were any black Catholics." She replied in all seriousness, "Oh, yes, I'm full blooded." I'm using that someday.

Thursday I'm not sure what I did! We did schoolwork during the morning, cooked dinner. I did go to the library to print some research pictures. Got into an interesting conversation with one of the librarians. We had spoken before about growing up in the same areas of Cincinnati. That night, we also got into a discussion of high schools, neighborhoods and streets. Turns out our paths had crossed umpteen times through the years.

Then we started to talk about where we lived now. She mentioned her road. I said, "Oh, the only person I ever knew who lived there was Mr. B." Shocked, she said, "We live in his house." From there we were OFF to the amusement of the few library patrons. She'd always wanted to meet someone who knew him. I told her all I knew about the house (built in the 1890's) and the man. Sure makes the cliche' "it's a small world" seem true.

Friday turned out to be a golden, autumn day. It got HOT! I took a walk through the Grailville retreat center and went down several new paths. Guess several of the downs to the week happened on Friday. Got booted off a Yahoo group (no great loss since every time I opened my emails my stomach clenched.) Still, I'd have liked to slam the door on my way out. They didn't even print my letter telling why I decided to leave.

Earlier in the week, I'd also had another jolt from someone I met on that group. That's all I care to say in print, but I feel a deep sense of loss.

Time to move on to next week. I'm looking forward to beginning the NANO novel writing month on Wednesday. That should keep me busy! I'll have to pound out 2000 words a day to meet the 50,000 word deadline. Maybe later I'll have to remind myself why I'm doing this. Okay, I heard that remark----