smh (shaking my head)

People get vanity plates to celebrate something interesting about the car or its driver. They are intended as conversation starters. Sometimes they are inside jokes that most people won't get. Sometimes they are easier to figure out. Overall, vanity plates are a way for individuals to express their identity, interests, and values through their vehicles.

So what does MRS WTF say about this soccer mom who drives her kids to and from practices and to soccer games? Perhaps WTF is her husband's or partner's or her initials. Or is this what she yells at the refs when she doesn't agree with a call? Maybe it's an inside joke of some sort.

Me, I don't have a specialized license plate, just an everyday plate from the BMV which needs its renewal in the next few weeks. 

monday's mulling: back in the day

Who remembers doing this? I sure do and it was in the lunchroom that was also used as the gym at Dorothy Lane Elementary School. Not to brag, but I was good at it. I was one of the faster ones to pull myself up that rope, held on for dear life to ring the bell, and then slid down, finding that point to get down quickly but not get rope burns.

This was Dorothy Lane Elementary School where I attended 5th and 6th grade. It was the original Fairmont High School and is now the site of senior living apartments. Why was the school named Dorothy Lane? It was on a road named Dorothy Lane. Dorothy was the daughter of John Patterson, the founder of National Cash Register (NCR), and he sold the land to Van Buren Township (now the suburb of Kettering) to build a road. 

Back to Dorothy Lane days. At the end of the school year, there was 6th Grade Recognition Night, a farewell to the 6th graders as they left the comforts of elementary school and embarked on their junior high school journey. As one last assignment, each 6th grader had to write a poem about his or her Dorothy Lane experience. A committee would choose four students to recite their poems by memory on the stage in the auditorium in front of all the parents and classmates. I prayed that I my poem wouldn't be one of the chosen ones but it was. I was very quiet and shy and quite petrified having to do this. Bless my mom. She worked and worked and worked with me to memorize the poem.

6th Grade Recognition Night came, all the poets stood on the stage as we each recited our poem. My turn. Stage fright set in as I was blinded by the big light. I heard my mom's voice say the first line of the poem, "The corridors are still..." and then everything was fine. I recited my poem.

Here's what I can remember of it.

The corridors are still, the children have all gone home.

Only the memories of their voices remain

As night closes in on Dorothy Lane.

This school I shall long recall, with thoughts of joy and gladness

The teachers with their skills and knowledge

The friends who someday will be in college.

If the rooms could take and tell their thoughts

What would they think, what would they say?

Do you think they’d remember Carnival Day?

The lunchroom is most peoples’ favorite, 

For here our appetites are pleased.

Hamburgers, hot dogs, vegetables, and pies 

Are some of the things we get to try.

(There were a few more verses going through different rooms in the school but this is where the my memory stops.) 

The last line...and the biggest sigh of relief!

Good night, good night, dear Dorothy Lane.

new employee

Every year when the farmers market opens, one of the employees goes around to all the produce and makes a cheat sheet with all the prices on it. Typically it's handwritten and taped to the counter until everyone is comfortable in his or her price knowledge.

A couple weeks ago a new employee joined the ranks and she needed her cheat sheet. She's artistic and added illustrations to go with the items and prices. What fun! Hope she'll be back next year to make the price list.

 

make the world a better place

Humanity can be baffling at times, but I'm in awe of our ability to come together to help each other out – so here's to all the helping hands, near and far, who continue to show up selflessly for all the folks experiencing really rough times of late; you are good, good souls.

 

the friday feed: pumpkins for sharon 🎃

For Sharon, creator of Phoenix Daily Photo. 

In one of my posts, Sharon commented that the only pumpkins she had seen this year were in boxes at Trader Joe's. This one's for you, Sharon - pumpkins in all shapes, sizes, and colors!

“I am falling in love with autumn, the smell of warm cider, the orange color leaves, pumpkins everywhere, and the crisp breeze.” ~ Charmaine J. Forde

“We’re not pumpkins. We’re stunning autumn gourds.” ~ Penny Reid

"I can smell autumn dancing in the breeze. The sweet chill of pumpkin, and crisp sunburnt leaves." ~ Ann Drake

“In November, the smell of food is different. It is an orange smell. A squash and pumpkin smell.” ~ Cynthia Rylant

10/10...a perfect 10

October 10 - 10/10. 

Ten places to make my perfect travel list.

1. The Iberian Peninsula - Spain, Portugal, Andorra, Gibraltar. 

2. Canada - its Maritime provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Also Newfoundland and Labrador.

3. Alaska

4. San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

5. The UK - England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland

6. Scandinavia

7. Australia and New Zealand

8. Croatia

9. Route 66 from beginning to end

10. Great Lakes tour

Deauville, France

wednesday's words and wonderings and wanderings

This past week was a quiet week. It started off with getting a tooth pulled which wiped me out for a day. I didn't sleep well the night before and the tooth took a little more effort to extract than the surgeon anticipated. I waited a long time to get it removed, probably too long, but now the discomfort is gone. Onward, with a big gap at the back of my mouth that I can help rubbing my tongue over. 

Just a quick story...my grandpa had a gold tooth and as a little girl, it fascinated me. 

"Grandpa, how did you get that gold tooth?" 

"When I was a little boy and lost this tooth, I never put my tongue through the hole and when the tooth came in, it was gold!"

It 's that time of year for pumpkins and I'm continuing the tradition of having a giant pumpkin in my yard. It will stay until Christmas and have Christmas lights wrapped around it.

A couple people have been on vacation this past week and I've been putting in a lot of hours at the farm. It's been a lot of fun with all the families picking out their Halloween pumpkins. One little boy came up to the stand and proudly pointed at his pumpkin. It was the biggest one in the wagon. "That's my pumpkin!" he said with a rascally twinkle in his eyes. His dad said that he told his little guy if he could lift this big pumpkin, he would buy it for him. The little guy had determination and no problem lifting it. 34 pounds!

It's cool to witness cultural exchanges. A Middle Eastern man brought his mother to the farm for tomatoes. One of his friends happened to be there and when they saw one another, they embraced and kissed one another on each cheek. The friend greeted the mom with a kiss on her hand, a hug, and then kisses on each cheek. Heart warming.

Every year, the Dayton Magazine has a Best of Dayton contest and Treadway Gardens was one of the nominees as Best Farmers Market. We just got the news that we won! This is the second year in a row for this honor. It's nice to know that the "little guy" is appreciated.

On a warm, breezy day, the neighboring farmer was out cutting his bean field and bean dust was blowing right at the produce stand as we had long lines of people buying their pumpkins, mum, and veggies. No complaints from anyone. People enjoyed watching something they don't normally see.

The other night, after closing up the farm stand and walking to my car, it was so quiet and peaceful. A crescent moon was rising as the sun was setting. The moon teaches that it's OK to go through phases and the sun shows that it always rises.

The cosmos that line the exit driveway at the farm are passing into their autumnal fade away. It's sad to see these cheery and wispy flowers go but there's beauty in this stage. They're dropping seeds that will increase the size of the garden and like the sun, they will be back.