Pretzel Park

where oh where, does it all go
time with her wings, doesn't know slow

to think what has happened over the past few days.
i'll delve in the twists of my inner brain maze

and see what pops up...

I think it was Saturday when we piled in the car to meet Keoni at Pretzel Park. He goes early on the train into Center City for orchestra; then, hops back on the train to meet us where John's friends are helping promote the park. This year (a whole year!) it was a beautiful afternoon in complete contrast to last year when the wind blew and the temp stayed down.

The sound setup was excellent for an outdoor venue.

Keoni, Aidan and Pretzel.

Punctuating the weekend was more pumpkin carving by Aidan. The operations took place on the dining table.

Display is on the kitchen table; tomorrow the candles and outdoors they go to the front porch.

I was parked outside Keoni's violin lesson. There was a shed there that probably pre-dated the concrete curb where I parked. Buildings of this nature are everywhere I go here in PA. They feel like macaroni and cheese.

This is the first town lit night-scape (dusk) I've seen from a hill view point in PA.

Aidan is at the bottom approximate middle, starting soccer practice.

It's almost time to go potluck at the church. I spent some time on their e-newsletter the past several days, and enjoyed seeing the results published. I'm meeting interesting people about whom I write articles. The latest was about the man who brings 40 pounds of bird seed each week into the church's bird sanctuary and loads the dozen or so feeders. It turns out he is a rocket scientist working for Lookheed, always interested in birds because of the aerodynamics. He calls the cluster of bird feeders a "Bird Feeder Testing Ground". Another recent interview drew in the spouse of a retired minister parishioner. I learned she was far from any stereotype, since she had a full career as a PhD electro engineer; then, retired to run her own consulting business from her home.

Time to run. Think happy thoughts.

Orange, Orange, Orange

...leaves, pumpkins, Toby, six aisles at Walmart...

Jack-O-Lantern time.

Eagles' green, too.

And black...Aidan's 2014 Halloween carving.

One of John's work friends and his family, and another couple and their daughter from Tucson (yes, Tucson!) who moved here about the same time as Wendy and John's move, were invited to come for a Sunday afternoon visit. Between them, there were four very young kids. The couples were especially congenial and, of course, everybody was very active with so much youth running around. After the tour around the place and plenty of visiting, the boys played a couple songs they are practicing for the  gig next Saturday at Pretzel Park.

After company left Aidan exclaimed, "The kids are a lot of work, and the parents have them every day!"

________

We don't know what Jasmine, the chief nanny, ate that has suddenly upset her digestion. Wendy is worried about her and tending her well. She pulled all the pasture animals into the barn today since it was mostly blustery rain outdoors. Jasmine shows a slight improvement, but is still off her feed. No large indicators to what ails her. There were no obvious changes going on.

_________

The lady bugs returned a couple of days ago. There are hundreds. They like the Southwest corner of the house.

Aidan set the ones in his jar loose on an aphid ridden plant. The lady bugs went right to work on them.

Toby has been seen in the adjoining woods eating a bird he caught. He still likes his food up on the porch and opens the screen door himself to greet me every morning even though most mornings it is too cold now for me to stay out there and have my coffee.

Fog appears at daybreak fairly frequently.

Summer's last gasp.

Mighty Frezz is there to greet me in his orange and black.
Note mangled screen on door. Frezz, Fancy and Toby let themselves in and out. Sebastian refuses because he hates having the door banging on his thin-skinned little body.

My orange buddy.

Having easy access to outdoors and the ability to walk around the acreage at will is one of the most satisfying things that I do. It is beyond dust fuzzies.

Well Woes and Soggy Crackers

The finest day of the week was Sunday; brisk, sunny and just about perfect. Aidan and I spent a couple of hours over at a park in the afternoon so he could practice his corner shots to the full-size goals. I walked around the park while he worked mightily honing his skills; the All Star games are in November. There may have to be bright colored balls to see them in the snow. For a "breather" we shot some baskets in the court area. I made two baskets and it only took about 30 tries. Aidan's looked lots better than mine...

It was peaceful back at home...

Wendy and John were relaxing after many weekend chores...

Some chores were completed, but others are a bit more daunting. Spreading out wash loads, dishwasher and showers so the water supply holds up OK has become a concern for all. The new well pump replacing the dead one did not answer a second issue: the supply. It has been learned that the house well is not deep enough so it will be a very expensive fix. The former owners, just two people, probably didn't use the volume that we are using so it was not stated as a problem in the sale of the property.

The work that John put into the dryer has gone for naught; the poor old thing made a dull click today and Wendy pronounced it dead. Towels are drying on the porch.

So, there are concerns.

Nevertheless, life moves along anyhow. The humidity and warm air have made a balmy, sometimes foggy atmosphere. Papers on the desk are limp. Crackers grow soggy. It rains occasionally. The moisture condenses on the outside of the toilet tanks and dribbles onto the bathroom floors.

Outdoors, Autumn fills the air, and the wet leaves are stunning.

Neighbors' drive across the road from us.

In about 10 days Keoni and Aidan have a gig in Pretzel Park as they did last year. Autumn Leaves is one of the tunes they are practicing together. Keoni recorded an accompaniment for it; then, they play the cello and violin to go with it. A couple of days ago it was just a tune made of chord progressions that Keoni was picking out on the piano. That brought back memories for me of Roger Williams playing it--the '50s, I think. Keoni says Joseph Kosma who composed it played with Bartok (or did he say that he was a student of Bartok?). Intersting. So many connections. Tonight, they did a couple of run-throughs before Aidan's math homework. Here's one...Autumn Leaves

Getting ready for the weather changes ahead, creatures of the outdoors are coming in, including mice. Karma has caught a couple of them. Keoni and Aidan found a spider in the dining room that impressed them. Today, I found a fresh cocoon at the mailbox. I wonder what's in it.

All in Less Than a Week

The rain was a steady drizzle during the first game of Aidan's soccer tournament on Saturday.

The geese liked the rain.

Aidan bonks one. (Note: Team spirit green hair.)

The Greens won that round and the rain went away, but, sadly, winning the next two games went away, too. We're all proud of the team; they struggled mightily the entire time.

Post-tournament blues. Coach doing some heavy-lifting of spirits.

Aching and sore, they managed a few smiles for the camera.

But, hey! there's still the All-Star games ahead.

On Sunday, Keoni's pre-performance heebie-jeebies were calmed somewhat when we took a walk around the property and snapped some pictures...

And, including, a little string, jammin' R & R with brother...

Grandma gets the pre-concert concert.

The solo with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra came off really well. (This is the orchestra name I couldn't recollect late Friday night.) No pictures allowed during performance. His teacher Bob de Pasquale was there and sat with us. Mr. d truly makes me think of Phil every time I see him. Keoni's making a world of friends and connections in the music realm. Listening to the musicians is somewhat like listening to old war veterans; in similar ways the musicians' conversations loop through finding where their acquaintances, backgrounds and experiences may have crossed paths or connected.

Post-performance pictures with his fellow competition winners.

And with conductor...

And with the proud mom and brother. Dad is getting the car.

The family is happy that John fixes electronic stuff; the latest was the dryer. While waiting for a part old-fashioned drying took place...

Wendy is enjoying some time in the saddle these days.

Putting away things from traveling, and catching up on rest and mail, etc., were my priorities of the past week. Rested up yesterday, I drove a little over an hour to Hawk Mountain. The drive was the highlight of the morning, but PA's rural roads don't accommodate stopping for photos of the beautiful fall landscape of farms and woods. I think, at this time of the year, some farmer might someday think to go beyond fruits and vegetables, and make an Honest-John photo-op pullout.

Hawk Mountain was a beautiful place, especially after the night's rain. I wasn't there early enough or late enough to see much raptor activity beyond what I see here at Rhapsody Ridge. But the lookouts and birders were interesting...

Bird-watchers watching birds.

It turned out to be good that I had a nice little afternoon nap. Aidan and I took a walk afterwards...

Let's look in the woods here, Grandma Judy...

Aidan's grasshopper picture.

Then, late Wednesday afternoon Keoni suddenly had free online tickets in hand to go to Kimmel Center for the Philadelphia Orchestra performance; gratis PYO filling up Verizon Hall on a slow Wednesday night. We got ready in 15 minutes and made it to the train in time. We walked to Verizon Hall from the station, and grabbed a quick meal as we headed to the concert.

Keoni's snap in Center City of the fall leaves, street light and the moon as we walked along.

My street-scape with City Hall.

We had seats behind the conductor because we wanted to see what that's like; later, changing to great balcony seats since we could hear their wonderful music better there.

Gloria de Pasquale (blond page-boy) warming up; Aidan's cello teacher. Mrs. d is Bob de Pasquale's sister-in-law.

Kimmel Center during intermission.

Home after midnight. Back to catching up on rest today.

Two of the three black walnuts I've been photographing are now on the ground below and the third probably in a squirrel hole somewhere.