It's Alive!

One recent sunny afternoon, my friend and I were power-walking and enjoying our neighbors' creative and Halloween decorations a neighbor and I passed an elaborately adorned yard with pumpkins on the stoop, ghosts in the trees, and ghoulish shapes in the yard. Suddenly, we heard a voice and spotted movement among the decorations! A grandmotherly figure stood up to greet us, "Hello there!"

"Aaa!" my neighbor startled and chuckled nervously. "I thought you were part of the decorations."

The grandmother looked down at her clothing and laughed. "Hey, I guess you are right! I do blend in." She happened to be wearing an orange sweatshirt and black pants; she was just sunning herself on a chair in the middle of the yard while watching her grandchildren play.

The Furry Farmer

We dutifully put our pumpkins out on our front stoop in October. Sometimes carved, usually just plain out there. About two years ago, we noticed that our tenant chipmunk- who lives somewhere under our foundation- took a liking to the carved pumpkin. We could see the bite marks made into the pumpkin. Well, it was either "Chippy" the chipmunk or the squirrels. What we did not expect was for Chippy to plant the seeds around the front bushes. The next year, around summer time we were wondering what was growing. We just let it grow until we figured out it was a pumpkin plant. The plant took a life of its own and with not that much care aside from the occasional drowning by the girls. By the end of summer we could see the bud/flowers and what would eventually be a pumpkin. The first year yielded 2-3 small pumpkins. Out on the stoop they went. Although we didn't see as many bite marks as before, I did help out Chippy by throwing a couple seeds in the same spot. He must have got the hint because there were about five plants that started growing the next year. One especially stretched out down the driveway. We had to move that one onto the lawn and I had to avoid it when I mowed. This year's bumper crop was another three pumpkins. Aside from those obtained from pumpkin patch field trip and family trips, there are about eight on the stoop. I think Chippy and company are going to go nuts this year.

Thirteen Ways of Delivering a Line

A recent experience reminded me of the Wallace Stevens poem, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird." No, I wasn't bird watching, but people watching. At my child's elementary school, I observed energetic students audition for a part in the school musical. Each student had to deliver the line "No, I won't do it" three times but each time expressing a different emotion. The teacher would instruct each auditionee, "You are feeling..." and then give him or her feeling (i.e, happy, sad, angry, bored, shy, etc.). The most difficult sentiment for these courageous kids to play was "love"; the boys seemed especially squeamish to act out this "sappy" emotion. I was a little relieved that most students did not understand the feeling of "grief," hopefully from lack of experience in this area. The 10-yr-old thespians' vivid and diverse vocal, facial and bodily interpretations of this single line ("No, I won't do it." "NO, I WON'T DO IT!" "No, I won't do it…") were incredibly funny and moving.

Another parent assisting with the auditions suggested that if the teacher ever tired of hearing over and over “No, I won't do it,” the teacher could substitute, “These pretzels are making me thirsty." That was Kramer's line in a Woody Allen movie during "The Alternate Side" Seinfeld episode. Ha! For once I was not the first person to make a Seinfeld connection to real life.

Multitasking in the Shower

A friend (J) and I were admiring the recently renovated bathroom of another friend (K). Peeking at K's newly tiled shower, J spotted a small recessed square in the wall opposite of the shower head. She exclaimed, "A shelf for shampoo! I had one put in too! My husband joked that it was a beer shelf, not a shampoo shelf."

That little alcove is such a clever use of space for storing small items, I thought. Then I noticed a triangular slab of marble protruding from the stall's corner. A bench! You can sit down while washing, I mused.

Imagine swigging a beer while taking a load off of your feet, all under massaging jets of hot water. K's shower stall beats Kramer's shower in "The Apology" Seinfeld episode. Sure, he may have tossed a salad in his shower equipped with a garbage disposal, but could he put up his feet and have a drink? Okay, the shelf is really for shampoo...

At the Sandy Spring Volunteer Fire Department

We spent the afternoon climbing up and down fire trucks, in and out of an ambulance, and through a medivac helicopter. To a little kid? That's about the coolest thing ever.

Today was the open house at the Sandy Spring Volunteer Fire Department. The fire station down Georgia Avenue that we pass every day without much thought puts on a fantastic annual event. This wasn't our first year visiting, and I'm sure we'll be back.

The kids loved the red firefighter hats and badges they received, as well as the lollipops and coloring books and running through the smoke maze and operating a real fire hose. It was a wonderland of fun for them and they absorbed good safety lessons, perhaps without realizing so.

And for us, the grownups? We spent the afternoon among the rescue workers that keep our community safe, and other happy families enjoying the autumn day. Just another nice feature of living in Olney.