Gift of RA

I know that is a ridiculous statement from some who lives in Seattle.  But it comes from my body telling me it is going to rain, not because the weatherman said it will.  Besides, how often is the weather prediction right?  There are times when the barometer goes down and do I feel it!  But not every time, I’m still working on figuring out why certain times my body  wants to lie  under the covers and not be disturbed.   The odd thing this time is the parts that are bothering me – ones that don’t normally protest at the falling barometer.  My tooth hurts, my knees are bothering me – maybe that is from standing too long on Wednesday.  My toe next to my big one hurts – did I stub it and not remember?  This is also the one I broke a few years ago, yet the finger I broke is fine.  I have been having pain in my left bun and down my thigh for a couple or three weeks – still doing exercises for that.  Just places and stiffness or discomfort all around.

I remember  when I was living in New Jersey – my first experience with humidity.  That first summer was hard to adjust to and I spent as much time in air conditioning as I could.  Then towards the end of September it cooled and dried out and I felt really good.  October 1st it went humid again very suddenly and I felt as if I had been run over by a freight train.  I couldn’t remember a time when I felt so terrible and uncomfortable.  I finally came out of it after a couple of days, one memory I still remember vividly.

I was bowled over by the colors and just driving around the two lane roads in the area.

I had seen pictures my parents took on a Connecticut trip and I didn’t believe how blue the sky was.  But it truly does become that gorgeous blue.

I really liked driving around, I never knew what I would see.  There were places like this and then along the residential streets with the older houses and tree-lined streets.

We’ve had 2 days of sunshine and low 70’s after a lot of ran and chilly weather.  I didn’t want to put the heat on until October, but last Saturday we did – it was cold.  It has been raining steadily for a couple of weeks with breaks every once in a while.  It has felt good to have my winter nightie on and need all the covers, warm and cosy.  Now if I can figure out how to go straight to sleep instead of lying awake for an hour or two, I’ll have it made.

It is definitely Fall, the leaves are turning and the strong wind and rain has taken most of the leaves off some of the trees. Some are still green, while others are green with the outer parts dark red.  I love this time of year because of the colors and the weather, but more importantly it reminds me of living on the East Coast.  My first trip was to New Jersey in October when I went with Eddie to look for a place to live.  He had just started a job at the head office and while he was working, I was looking for a place to rent with an agent.

Bergen County is the Northeastern corner of New Jersey and most of the roads are two lane country roads – that makes it so cool.  We lived in Westwood, they call it the Hub because it is right in the middle of the county.

This is how it looked at my end, we were on the other side of the commuter train tracks – they went across the back of our street.

This gives you an idea of the main street, most of the towns are like this.  No high-rise, no city feel; it was like being away from the hustle and bustle.  But it you took the train, it would have you in NYC in no time.

Now when Fall comes, I remember my visit and how special it felt.  I had never been back east before and I will admit, I sounded as if I had just fallen off the turnip truck.  The Volvo chauffeur picked us up at the airport – I was fascinated by the car phone.  This was October 1977, so there weren’t really cell phones then, what he had in the car was huge and bulky.   I’d never seen one before, except maybe on tv.  Even so, it felt magical to me and any where  I am in the fall with the colors, it feels like the first time in New Jersey.

I didn’t think they had much color in Atlanta, then when my parents came to visit, we drove to Nashville to see my sister Candy.  Wow!  There was color all over the mountains on both sides – what a delightful surprise.  I was especially interested to see the colors in Connecticut, especially after seeing the pictures Mom and Dad took on their trips.  Mom grew up in Connecticut and we ended up living there for 10 years with SAAB.  Some years the colors were spectacular and it was pure joy driving around.  Other years, not so great.  Sometimes it would rain and it seemed to drain the colors from the trees.  There is nothing like a clear, sunny day to enjoy the leaves