Monday Random

• October is gearing up to leave us. I can see him packing, and watching the clock
• Last evening we were a couple of kids, taking a walk in the rain and picking up leaves
• A couple of years ago I took clear contact paper and made some of the leaves in our old neighborhood into placemats for Thanksgiving
• We have family coming this year for the first time in three, so that is something to be thankful for, and we are going to make enough placemats for everyone
• It’s a craft my nieces and I can do together, simple and fun

• Remember when I got sick from eating a bitter zucchini? It seems I have developed an allergy from the ingestion of it.
• This is very strange since I have had no allergies in 55 years, except a bit of sneezing from some perfumes
• All I had yesterday was half a slice of zucchini bread, and in a few hours I was doubled over and had a rash. Isn’t that weird?
• I am wondering if that means no squash at all, even pumpkin. I had better take heed at Thanksgiving
• Wouldn’t it be horrible if I was allergic to something really great, like apples, or coffee, or chocolate?
• So October is leaving us, my favourite month. I have not taken as many pictures as usual, but I have walked in the leaves some

• I don’t dig Halloween so I am looking forward to preparations for Thanksgiving.
• I know how some feel about it. I guess I think history is there to learn something, and we can’t change it
• I think it’s cool that in the middle of all that chaos, some very different folks were able to get together and have a meal and get along.
• Plus I love all the food in the harvest time, especially all the side dishes.
• Hey, did you hear that the nice lady who created green bean casserole died recently, that viscous and crunchy concoction on every table in the midwest and beyond on Thanksgiving day
• I think they should name it after her, call it Green Beans au Dorcas, or Reilly Casserole
• I don’t put that cream of mushroom soup in it though. I use either cream of chicken, celery, or better, I make my own white sauce and add a little cheese to it
• Do any other countries eat green bean casserole even though they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving?
• The thing about casseroles that endear them to my heart, is that they kept my family of six going for a very long time
• a bit of bread crumbs and some kind of soup and noodles can stretch a little bit of meat and veg to a a lot more, and more can eat.
• My mom was a whiz at stretching food farther. But I’ll talk more about that another time, except to say that I am thankful for her
• She had a November birthday that often lands on Thanksgiving
• She has been gone 21 years now and is in a nicer, more peaceful place, but I often think about her smile and hear her laugh. Here is a funny picture from years ago when I and my big brother were small. I think I was 1 and my mother was 23.

Have a great Monday and I hope you have a few things to smile about. Thank you for reading!