Fall has fallen

The weekend of the election was the last of the "summer" weather. After that, somebody threw a switch and the temperatures dropped from around 18 C/64 F to 12 C/54 F pretty much over night. (OK, summer ended for me already when we came home from California at the beginning of August because I really don't consider 18 C/64 F to be summer weather, but I'm spoiled.) I awoke Monday morning to fall colors and fog. Since then, I've been freezing. However, I did hold out until October before breaking down and putting on my long underwear or starting a fire in the fireplace.

Last Saturday, we were invited to a party on an old London bus. It was hilarious watching people come out of their houses to stare and even take pictures as the enormous double decked bus bounced and lurched its way through the narrow streets of residential neighborhoods picking up other guests. The kids thought this was loads of fun. The traffic that was eventually stuck behind us was probably less than thrilled.

The bus was eventually parked beside a lake and the bus driver got a ride home. The bus wasn't heated, so we were all bundled up. The kids ran around and played, and the adults settled in at the dining table upstairs. From there, we had a nice view of the lake, the sunset, and the enormous flock of birds or bats that circled the lake after sunset. We had each brought our own food and beverages, but there was plenty of sharing going on. Several people, including our host, brought crayfish. That was good for my husband, because I never cook those stinky little bugs. I brought s'mores brownies. Yum!

Unfortunately, every time somebody moved around on the bus (which was pretty much continuously considering the kids were downstairs), the whole bus swayed a little. As people drank more, they would make the bus rock on purpose too. For me, this was just enough that I was on the verge of being motion sick the whole time. I wasn't sick enough that I wanted to go sit outside by myself in the dark, but it was enough that I wasn't having that much fun. I took some Dramamine, and I think that made me a bit sleepy. I would occasionally close my eyes and go into the "sleep through the turbulence" mode that has pretty much become instinctive for me. I know this is really rude, but I couldn't help it. I was pretty embarrassed.

The kids were begging to go home by the time they finally called the driver to come take us back to town, and it was midnight by the time we got home. I know that's really not late, but I was mighty glad to get home.