Too Soon for Peak Foliage

After what felt like an endless summer, the warmest temps on record, according to Science Daily, New England is very much into Fall.  In fact, northern New Hampshire is peaking now which, seems much too early.  

Our first trip to New Hampshire was Fall 1986.  We took a ten day trip from Virginia, leaving on 9/25 and returning 10/4.  I remember because it took me several years in a row to book this driving trip through the places we wanted to see and stay.  It must have been a record year for foliage as we were bedazzled by every place we visited.  So bedazzled and happy and relaxed, we conceived our first child while in the New Hampshire portion of the trip.  No wonder I remember it so well! 

I have so many photos and they are all about the leaves.  Locals call Fall visitors "leaf peepers".  They represent the best and worst of the tourists; the best because they spend alot of money, the worst because they always drive SLOOOOWWWW.

Here's a sample of early local color to which we look forward all year.

Autumn on the Saco River

by Cole Scott

DWTS

I love "Dancing With the Stars".  I like it because I am always interested in the progress of each contestant.  It's an amazingly hard process and I identify with it even if I'm not the one dancing.  This season, I am already rooting for Jennifer Grey.  Why?  She captivated me in "Dirty Dancing" and she has great genes thanks to dad, Joel Grey.  Who can forget Patrick Swayze's `admonishment to Jerry Orbach, her father: 

"Nobody puts Baby in the corner!"

Rick Fox went first and, damn, if he wasn't good doing the quick step.  The guy is huge.  He has my favorite dancer, Cheryl, as his partner, and he pulled it off.  Following Rick was Florence Henderson, Ma Brady herself.  The judges were falling all over her and pandering to her.  bleech.  She just wasn't that good.

Plus, anybody see this?  As Lurch would say, "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........."

 No.  I did not embed the video.  TMI.

Anyway, DWTS is a rigged show.  No doubt in my mind.  I should not watch it but I am hooked and I do and I bemoan the silly voting allowed by the stupid tv audience who are all about favoritism over talent.  While I approached this season thinking Jennifer Grey might be the best, I have now watched two shows and am convinced.  Plus, she has Derek, the best choreographer...



With DWTS, however, one never knows who might emerge as a superb dancer.  Sometimes, I am genuinely surprised. 

Now, the worst part of the show...Sarah Palin.  Jesus Christ, WTF.  I get it.  Bristol's on the show but, do we have to showcase Mama Grizzly?  I mean, really!  Barf barf barf.  I don't know what Bristol is like but I sure as shit feel sorry for her.  She is so totally at the mercy of her mother and the RNC, Tea Partiers, etc.  As Bob Dylan would sing,  "...only a pawn in their game."

Okay, enough of my ranting.    Tomorrow night:  another elimination.

Virtual Shopping

This has gone viral and I can see why.  Looks like fun and would sure eliminate the anxiety caused by pulling clothes on and off, ruining one's hair on a good hair day, squeezing into something too small, figuring out if it looks good on me or not.  I usually sweat bullets when I shop due to hormones and such. 



Autumnal Equinox or As the World Turns

Ruth of synch-ro-ni-zing inspired me with her nod to Fall today, so here's mine.



Lonely summer chair by the edge of a pond as Fall settles in.

Blue skies dramatize the changing colors of Fall leaves and the bleaching of the barn wood as it decomposes back into the earth.

Bright orange pumpkins, a sure sign Fall is here and Halloween is just around the corner.  After that, pumpkin pies!

Is anything more beautiful than the deepest reds of Autumn?  Those years when red is not plentiful lack the richness I've come to expect of this New England season.



Abandoned cars of an old railway grace the empty tracks bordering a stand of slowly yellowing trees.

Orange, my second favorite Autumn color.  Trees stand out when their colors change.  You can see their magnificent shapes as they reach to the sky.

View of a bridge, the 4th Iron Trestle, spanning the Saco River. 



Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold
Her early leaf's a flower
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf
So Eden sank to grief
So dawn turns into day
Nothing gold can stay.

Robert Frost

               

All photos by Cole Scott Photography. 

 

Six Degrees from Graduation

We called our eldest son last night to tell him his University was cancelling his classes because he hadn't paid his tuition.  This has happened before so we weren't surprised.  However, when my husband spoke with our student, he was irritated to some extent but then said, "I don't want to pay for classes I don't need."

He needs six more units til he can graduate.  He has been paying for college through student loans via the Federal Stafford loan program.  It's cheap money but they have requirements, one of which is "half time enrollment" up to each school.  In his case, I believe it's 10 units.  But, for some reason, he's decided to take only the six units he needs even though he does not have the money to pay for them. 

My husband's theory is  he is afraid to graduate and start his life.  We discussed this for a while, trying to remember how we felt.  I remember graduating with my B.A. Liberal Arts in English Lit.  I was very well educated but not trained to do anything.  My husband took a B.S. in Child Development and went on, after a few years of marriage, to get his MSW so he could be a social worker.  We struggled for a long time and I know how this feels. 

My son will have to start his life regardless because the federal loan criteria requires ongoing presence in school or you start paying back the loans until you return to school.  Son #2 is currently paying $101.00 per month for a small amount of loans he took during his two stints in college.  Soon #1 will have a much higher bill, I'm afraid.

How do you guide your child at this point in their lives?  He's 23 years old and has, for all intents and purposes, been independent from us and our financial help for over three years.  We are very proud of him because of this.  He scrapes by as a part time waiter.  School funds give him the additional support he needs.  He's studying Environmental Studies and we think there are many directions in which he can go.  But, we think he's scared. 

If anyone has gone down this path, I'd love to hear about it.