Autumn Appointment

My 15-year-old son had an orthodontist appointment this morning. I rode along while he drove, ala Josh and his mother in recent "Zits" cartoons. My son does well driving out on open roads and highways, but I'm not totally comfortable yet with his city driving. He needs to slow down as soon as he sees brake lights come on up ahead on busy streets, and he needs to pay better all-around attention to what's going on around him. We had one close call while turning through an intersection----we had a green light, but not a green arrow, and he failed to yield for an oncoming car. It didn't help that we were following in the wake of a big square Frito-Lay truck, which prevented us from seeing oncoming traffic, but that's no excuse. Also, I had looked away for some reason, and didn't see that the car was coming. It had to brake for us, and the driver honked, probably in great annoyance, understandably.

After the orthodontist appointment, Son and I made a quick dash through Target, grabbing a few needed grocery items, and paper towels for washing cow udders in the barn. Normally, I don't ever get to Target at the time of day we were there, 9:00 a.m. I noticed several tired-looking dads with babies or toddlers, shopping for groceries. Maybe after working a night shift, they take care of their little ones while their wives head off to work a day shift job. Bless them all. I'm thankful to have been able to stay home with my kids.

Later, back at home, while I was picking the last red raspberries of the season, Husband showed up and asked if I would make a trip to pick up some supplies. He needed netwrap to make big round cornstalk bales, and tines for the hay rake. He didn't need to ask me twice. Quickly, I headed to the house to make him some sandwiches for lunch, and grab my purse, also tossing in my camera for good measure. The New Holland dealership I had to go to was about 45 minutes away, in a hilly area that might provide nice autumn scenery.

Being asked to run for parts is not a problem----long, solitary drives are one of my favorite pastimes, and they don't occur often enough. Such a wonderful time to think and be aware of random thoughts that float in. My route took me past many fields where combines were dustily chewing their way through brittle rows of corn. In the end rows of the fields sat waiting tractors and wagons, or grain trucks. Nowadays, too, there are often semi-truck-size grain trailers also in the fields waiting to be filled up. With an ethanol plant nearby, some farmers send their corn right in there for processing, or to the waiting storage bins on farms or at the co-ops in each town. When the co-op bins get full, then corn will be piled up in bunkers on the ground.

After the netwrap and tines were loaded into the pickup, I went and got a turkey sub at Subway and headed to a roadside park high on a hill nearby. When I was a kid we used to stop there often on Sunday drives to enjoy the nice patchwork view of surrounding farms and, down in the valley, a little town with a twin-steepled church to catch the eye. I ate my sub on a park bench which had a metal plaque indicating it had been placed there in memory of someone named Jeff, 1957-2000. Maybe he had enjoyed the lovely view from this vantage point, too.

The autumn leaf colors did seem rather dull and muted, however.....possibly it will not be a season for bright fall foliage, as in past years. The unseasonable warmth and humidity of September and early October may be a factor. I did find a few bright sumac branches bordering the park to take close-up photos of, though. Then hopping back into the pickup, I headed down the road toward home, savoring the pleasant memories of the day.