Fall Walks

Fall in Buffalo is a glorious thing to behold. The weather is still very warm, but the breeze is cooler and spicier, scented with the early dead leaves. The horse chestnuts have started pinging off of the cars in front of my house (yes, they do cause a few dents). The coffee shop that I frequent, Spot Coffee, has its students back, all bent over their books and laptops so seriously.

Yes, I do realize that their site is under construction.

I think it’s ingrained in quite a few of us – we see the back-to-school sale circulars, the school buses, the children in their backpacks, the obvious college students, swarming the city. We suddenly want to buy pencils and pens, crayons, notebooks, binders. Every fall, I wish I were back in school, for another B.A. or M.A. I manage to make myself forget, for a moment, how broke I was as a student, and how undisciplined I was. But then I remember that college and grad school bear little relation to the studious montages you see in the movies. I think that I can study things on my own if I really feel that need to learn. And I can always use more pencils and crayons and notebooks.

Yes, I have and use crayons.

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I’ve been walking a lot lately. We had a very sunny weekend – actually, it’s been pretty sunny for the past week or so.

On Wednesday I went to Forest Lawn Cemetery and took pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously one of the most beautiful places in Buffalo, even with the killer gaggle of geese. I’ve been there quite a few times, taking photographs, and I never tire of it.

On Friday I walked to the library, and I stopped in Spot on my way back and ran into my friend’s husband, who hooked me up with cold-brewed coffee.

On Saturday, I went to another Spot to meet up with another friend, who was dogsitting. We walked up to Delaware Park so that the dog could stretch out his legs. It was of walking, even for me.

It seems like all of the exercise I’m getting should help me sleep well, but that’s not been the case. Maybe colder weather will help me to get some rest.

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OK, I’m 31 years old, and my decorating style, though marginally eclectic, is still pretty staid. That said, after all these years, I still want Pee-Wee Herman’s house… from the movie, not the show.