When someone is given the choice between good news or bad news first, it always boggles my mine they choose the good news first. I wonder why they want to be left with the bad news circling in their heads. As for me, give me the bad news first. Here we go: Grace got turned down yet again. The reason given was she didn’t qualify whatever the heck that means. She has money, land, letters of recommendation and family. I just don’t get it. Grace didn’t ask why so I told her she needed to find out from the embassy so we can correct the problem for the next time. Grace is at the, “It was God’s will,” stage, always a bad sign. She has decided to spend the winter making more money then try again next summer. She hopes I will save enough money to return to Ghana one more time and accompany her to the embassy. I will be a bit more forceful.

The good news is plentiful. The Sox won the first game of the series last night. The Cardinals made some errors which led to the Sox scoring runs. Two things about the game stand out in my memory. The first is a call made by the second base umpire which was overturned. I don’t remember that happening before. The replay showed the ump had blown the call, and overturning it was the right thing to do. Pedroia, the player involved, scored a run a bit later. The second stand-out play was an infield fly ball. It appeared as if the pitcher had called for it so the catcher just stood there. The ball fell between them for a base hit. Even the pitcher had to smile at that one. The second game is tonight. I still have my fingers crossed.

Yesterday I was on the road doing errand after errand. No longer am I a housebound sloth. I got to cross five errands off my list. I was jubilant at my industry. Each week I keep track of my mileage, not for any reason like how many miles to the gallon but rather from curiosity. When I got into the car yesterday I checked mileage and since Sunday I had gone .1 miles.

Yesterday it rained most of the afternoon. Last night was cold, not a frost but still cold. Today is a lovely day. The sun is shining. The morning air has that fall crispness and smells sweet. I have to fill the feeders as all of them are empty. Luckily one of my stops yesterday was to buy suet, sunflower and thistle seeds.

My Halloween treats have all been bought. For the younger kids, to whom I don’t give candy, I have wind-up mummies and bubbles. The tops of the bubble bottles are either a ghost, a witch, Frankenstein or the mummy. When I visited my sister last week, I went by what used to be the red house where two old ladies lived. The house is now a bland beige color and is a real estate office. That red house will forever live in my memory because the two old ladies always gave nickel bars of candy, usually Hershey bars, for Halloween. That memory inspired me, and this year I bought regular size Hershey Bars for the older kids. I haven’t done that in years. I usually give out what are called fun size bars, but they really aren’t all that much fun if you’re a kid. They’re just small candy bars, and no kid is ever taken in by the word fun.

This year my candy is a tribute to those two old ladies in the red house.