Fall Festivities

With life feeling more normal now that some of the fires in So Cal have been contained, I feel so much more like myself. My family lost some of their vineyard and had to do an emergency harvest to salvage the rest of the grapes. Apparently the wind just ripped the netting off of the grapes and tore it all to shreds, so now it is harvest time, though early, before pests begin to come in and eat the grapes once they smell the sugar. Marc's family is finally back at home and happily cleaning the house of ash and dirt. His mom says it smells terrible, and they also have a tree down on the garage. These are small causalities, considering how much more people have lost. It really is mind boggling and causes one to pause and consider what is worth complaining about.

Here in Florida, the big talk today is the weather radar. It has been, brace yourself, raining all day long, which has put a damper on both spirits and the Halloween Fall Festival. I spoke with head PTA mom today and we discussed options for plan B and where the booths will be held if we get rained out. This is very probable. She claims there has been no rain in 6 months and now it is all coming in these past few weeks. Interesting. I feel like it has not stopped raining since we arrived here. I can think of 3 or 4 days that were actually sunny and nice, without any intermittent rain, despite heat and humidity that causes severe sluggishness and depression. Sometimes, I just feel so desperate for fresh air from outside, to open the windows and let it come in with the breeze. Then I remember, there is no breeze here....it just doesn't happen.

Yesterday was a milestone, however, in that I turned off the air conditioning for one wing of the house. It actually was cool enough to open the windows in the kitchen and allow the air in from off the pool area. This did so much good for my attitude and feeling of AC claustrophobia. I am feeling so much more hopeful when I think the weather just may break one day soon. I don't care what people say or how "nice" everyone promises winter will be here. I will take chilly mornings and evenings of Southern California, because I just cannot live with the heat and humidity for much longer. It just does not make everything else worth it. My friend, Berta, likes to always say, "It's just weather, who cares?" But, really, I do care and I cannot pretend like it doesn't affect me.

I really enjoyed chatting it up with some characters poolside last night while Owen swam. There are some really nice swim team parents who genuinely care about how we are adjusting (or not so much) and how things are going in the school and otherwise. There are so very many nice people here who seem to like me, despite my wretched attitude about their town and state. They are still so warm and welcoming to me, and it feels good to be loved in that way. Tonight, Fall Festival where I am sure the kids will eat their weight in junk food and I will feel like a bad parent for allowing it to happen. Tomorrow morning, "The Killer Loop" of 21 miles again with some crazies who love it (including myself), then a costume parade for the kids, followed by a party at the house of a woman I met at tennis, who I just love. She is adorable and sweet, a petite pixie of a thing, with a huge beautiful smile and two beautiful girls who look just like her with their blond hair and clear blue eyes. Messina has gone to great lengths to plan her Halloween bash and we are ever so excited to participate in the festivities. Sunday is brunch with the neighbors across the street at their country club. This is apparently the en vogue thing to do; everyone seems to belong to one club or another around here, there are so many to chose from. After bunch, the pumpkin carving contest at another neighbor's big phat beach house up the street. There is a ton on the docket,which is how I like it since it keeps me distracted from things that concern me.

My buddies are running the Marine Corps Marathon this weekend, so we are sending them thoughts of cool weather and strength for the mountains they will face. Funny how in SD, everyone worries about what the weather will be doing on race day, "Is it going to be hot?" with never a thought of elevation. But here, all of my running friends never even mention the weather, but the obsession is, "Is there elevation? Will there be inclines?" and on and on. Isn't it funny the things we stress about? My concerns are not so much about elevation or running in the heat. My biggest concern is that my kids make it through this school district unscathed. We all need our issues to have an ulcer over.