Indian Summer

It's been a gorgeous weekend weather wise! Indian Summer they call it. Temperatures in the mid 70's bring a perfect opportunity to explore Mother Nature's beauty before fall overtakes us. And considering the weather man predicts Monday morning will be much more brisk and overcast, this unexpected gift becomes all the more sweet. Mi & I on Saturday decided to take a short hike through Grammer Grove near Liscomb. The leaves are beginning to fall and the warm wind whipped through it's thick unkept mass of trees. The trails were barely maintained but still passable so we followed them unsure of where we'd end up. Little frogs accompany us hopping all around as we pass. I'd expected to see more wildlife like squirrels, racoons or deer but all we found were footprints in patches of mud along the trails. An old foot bridge we came across tilts far left due to the tree directly to it's left. It's trunk slowly is sinking further down the bank of a small stream that lays beneath the bridge. Taking the bridge's edge with it and mangling it ever so slowly with it's desent. Surprisingly the bridge still seemed to be pretty sturdy to walk across but the trail leading from it was too overgrown for us to follow so we headed back and took a different route instead. It ended up at the river's edge where an older couple were fishing from their boat as they trolled along slowly. An old decaying telephone company sign stood along with a thick iron cable as it draped along the grove's edge, keeping you from stepping off into the river unknowingly. The sign's letters were eroding so it was difficult to know what it's original intent had been but then anything that says WARNING pretty much says enough in my opinon! It was a nice afternoon of exploration and I bottled it all up to help keep the dread of winter I've been feeling stay away!

When we arrived home someone had uprooted and mangled our Obama/Biden yard sign. It was now missing one of it's steel rods so it was impossible to put it up again. I suspect the next door neighbors who recently put up McCain and other Republican signs after we had erected ours of being the culprits! They've done things in the past like throwing rocks at our 8 yr old son and just are generally unfriendly so it's hard not to be suspect of them. But it's hard to say so we stopped by the local democrat office and got another one. Mi made sure this time the security camera is working and pointed directly at it so if it happens again we'll know for sure who are the culprits!

I saw a new show on Lifetime last night called The Locator. The host locates relatives and reunites them with each other such as those involved in adoptions, etc. It reminded me how in the back of my mind I wonder who exactly is my biological father today. The thoughts are usually shrouded protectively in denial and the fear that it would be more work then it's worth in knowing. Especially if he weren't such a good guy and would'nt be happy to be 'found' by the daughter he seemed to never wish to locate on his own. But the story being told during the episode peels the wall of protection down just enough to let me peek over and entertain the idea of finally 'knowing once and for all'. Perhaps there's a part of me that would feel some closure in at least 'knowing' even if the worst were to come true. Unfortunately the fear of him being allowed to know me at the same time keeps me from doing anything more then just entertaining the idea. And continuing to instead live in the safe place of pushing it to the back of my thoughts and hoping that one day I could just 'know' from afar but without being found out so I could then decide if I wanted to expose myself further. Such things though are only found in fiction and aren't possible usually in reality so unless I intend to use the scenario for a novel then it's best left alone I suppose. The jury is still out.