Tag Archives: random thoughts

Fall in Florence, Alabama

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downtown-florence-0014I was wandering around downtown Florence, Alabama, on a new-fall-florencerecent cool and misty fall morning and I realized that this weekend is probably autumn 2008’s last chance to dazzle and inspire before wind, rain and cold blasts us into winter. It’s been a surprisingly vivid fall this year around here, with vibrant reds and yellows glowing in the midst of subtle oranges and softly fading greens. Now, there’s beginning to be more leaves underfoot than overhead. But as I was rambling around Wilson Park, the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts and the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, I remembered once again that sometimes the most beautiful and wonderful things are — literally — in our own backyards.

Food and Drink

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Is the glass half empty or half full … or broken? My mom gave me four of these wine glasses for Christmas after I admired them at Henhouse Antiques in Birmingham, Alabama (http://www.shophenhouseantiques.com/). I loved their style and also the fact that I couldn’t knock them over and break them, the way I do with stemmed wineglasses. But, of course, in the 10 months I’ve had them, I’ve broken every single one of them. The fourth and last one  developed a crack on Wednesday night, probably in sympathy with its lost three companions, and so I put it out of its misery.

And in other random thoughts, friends and family always are tickled at my love for Fresh Market and Whole Foods and places like Tria Market in Birmingham — since they all know that I don’t actually cook. Much, that is. My husband’s sports-editor schedule means that we eat out a lot. And when I’m on my own, I’m a low-maintenance grazer. But I love good food, so you gotta go to the source. Besides, it’s the promise of possibilities that I love in good grocery stores. With all that inspiration, it’s possible that I might get motivated to grill some cedar-plank salmon or whip up a fresh risotto. It’s possible!

Choosing

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So many choices! So options! So many decisions! This is why fall is my favorite season. In summer’s heat and humidity, things sort of slow down and we (and by “we” I actually mean “me”) get lazy and bored and boring. But once September’s here and October’s only a calendar-page-flip away, we get re-energized. And we do need energy, because after weeks of not having anything to do, we suddenly have too much to do. Of course, by “anything,” I mean things that are fun and I want to do versus things that are not fun and I don’t want to do — think eating chocolate chip cookies versus cleaning out closets. Anyway, fall weekends mean choosing. Do I go to the concert or the football game? Do I visit the arts and crafts show or watch the homecoming parade? Do I hang out at the street festival or go hunt for the perfect pumpkin? Of course, money, time and gas availability are factors, but it’s still fun to have choices.

Friday night, I had to decide whether to be part of the debate crowd in Oxford, Miss., or watch on TV  — and the uncertainty of whether the debate would go on or not didn’t help. Anyway, I dilly-dallied around until it was too late — which is my usual way of making a decision — and so traded the excitement of downtown Oxford for the comfort of an indoor screen. Naturally, in my typical contrary way, I immediately wished I had made the effort to go! Oh, well. Anyway, you can feel as if you were there by reading the blogs at http://www.djournal.com — the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal newspaper in Tupelo, Miss. I’m not sure who “won” the debate, but I am sure it seemed more of the same big talk, vague promises and it’s-not-my-fault excuses. Oh, yeah, and the classic I-predicted-this-years-ago-if-you-all-would-have-only-listened. The closer we get to November, the surer I am that I’m choosing to take a pencil with me to the polls. I’m just saying.

Street Talk

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I do not understand this street sign, which is in a neighborhood I pass through about a dozen times a day. My husband says it’s very simple: The sign is at a crosswalk at an intersection and it’s telling drivers to yield to pedestrians as they walk across the street on the crosswalk. Then why, I wonder, doesn’t the sign just say “Yield to Pedestrians” like every other “yield to pedestrian” sign does? Are yellow triangles not good enough anymore? Are the street-sign makers afraid we drivers don’t know what “pedestrian” means and so have resorted to hieroglyphics? By the time a typical driver (say, me) has translated the sign — which seems to be quite small in proportion to its stated purpose of protecting pedestrians — there’s a line of irate drivers honking in frustration. And why the extra cautionary arrow to especially avoid pedestrians “from here to?” I want to know: From here to where? If we have to be told to yield to pedestrians beginning at a certain point, then we need that ending point, too. Do not leave us hanging, infinitive-wise. Besides, shouldn’t we always yield to anybody out walking in the street, whether there’s a sign instructing us to do so or not? Just common courtesy, seems to me.

Inquiring minds …