Anniversaries and Barn Sales

Ahhh, autumn.

October – my favorite time of year. This one has certainly been busy and we aren’t even to the half way point! Yesterday Ron and I drove the back roads from St. Charles to Winona. The trees were just gorgeous (and I was without a camera). Wouldn’t this be a wonderful time of year for a wedding? That’s exactly what we thought back in 1974. Yesterday we celebrated our 34^th anniversary! That is so hard to believe, especially since I am 34 years old. Well, in my mind I’m 34. Ron said I should think about changing that to 39. We'll see. I like 34. I’ve liked it for a long time. Not too young, not too old. I don’t like the number 39. It just doesn’t sound pleasant, know what I mean? So if I am going to age, I will make the jump to, hmmm, maybe 42. I have to think about that for a while though. You don’t just age 8 years over night. It will take me a while to reinvent my own mental image of myself. Maybe by Christmas I will be 42. We’ll see.

This morning I went to Wabasha to Papa’s Barn to gather what was left after their barn sale. Everyone was quite pleased at how well the sale went. I know I am happy that I didn’t have much to take home.

I wanted some pictures of the Mississippi valley in all its autumn splendor, but it was completely cloudy and threatening rain. Undaunted, I still took pictures, even some out the window.

Hwy 14 between Plainview and Kellogg

I detoured a little on the way home to the scenic overlook above Wabasha. It would have been prettier with sunshine, but even in the clouds, the Mississippi valley is beautiful.

Then closer to home, I came up behind this.

It’s a grain bin on its side on a trailer being towed by a pickup. You won’t see this in the big city!

Apparently the local fauna were out partying last night and several of them didn’t make it home. I counted 5 dead skunks, 1 possum, 2 deer and 1 UFO (unidentified flattened object). The moon is almost full, so they’ll probably be out partying again tonight. Drive carefully.

Tomorrow I will load up again so I can leave bright and early Wednesday morning for the next barn sale. This time I am heading to rural Buffalo, MN to my friend Kari's barn sale. Her business is Red Barn Minnesota and she has the most awesome barn sale. It runs this week from Thursday through Sunday. Details tomorrow, including directions!!

Names and Symbols

A few weeks ago we traded vehicles. I was driving a 2004 Buick Rendezvous and loved it. I’m still not sure why we traded – maybe because of the huge rebate and low interest offered by Dodge and Chrysler. Anyway, we bought a new 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan with the Stow ‘n Go seats. With the seats all folded away, there is more cargo room than in the bed of Ron’s truck!

My sister-in-law-extraordinaire Tracy drives a Chrysler Town and Country that is pretty much the same as a Dodge Grand Caravan except for the name. I made some comment to her about not liking the ugly ram’s head decal looking at me from the middle of the steering wheel. She, of course, reminded me that the ram’s head and curly horns look like female body parts. Thanks, Tracy. I like it even less now.

I always called my Rendezvous “the car.” It technically wasn’t, but that’s what I called it. So what do I call this new vehicle?

Grand Caravan -- too long and too pretentious.
Caravan -- sounds too cheap.
Minivan -- too soccer mom-ish.
Van -- sounds too big.
Car -- sounds too little.
Truck -- it hauls a lot of stuff, but we already have a truck.

It's warm, comfy and secure. There is that ram's head/uterus looking at me from the center of the steering wheel.

I will call it THE WOMB.

A few days later I was driving in Rochester and realized that the big windows really gave me a great view of my surroundings.

A WOMB WITH A VIEW!!

Marge, the Gran