The day is warm and sunny. It will hit 70˚. I guess summer is hoping for a grand exit. I’m heading for the deck after this, bringing my book and some bird seed. The feeders are all empty, the fault of the red spawn who is relentless. I think it is time to trap him and take him down cape or up cape. It doesn’t matter which, away is enough.

The Foodie Crawl was wonderful. We tasted food from many Mexican restaurants, an Ethiopian, Brazilian, Casey’s Bar and so many more. I tasted the best guacamole I’ve ever had and a blueberry dessert which was scrumptious. At Casey’s they gave us a chuck of chicken, a piece of sausage, a meatball and a piece of pizza to put them on. It was great pizza. At one stop I had green tomato gazpacho, a fried green tomato on top of greens with a champagne dressing and pulled pork. The food was served in small plastic cups, but every stop had at least two cups for us to try. I think I made it through 10 stops before I could eat no more. My sister managed two stops beyond mine. My back didn’t last so I sat on benches and sat down to eat if I could then I’d start walking again. We had a lot of fun and lots of great food so we decided we’d do it again next year and bring more people. The only down spot was when we got back to the car and found a parking ticket on the windshield.

As I was driving toward Boston, I noticed a few trees in their autumn reds. Two hawks were riding the thermals above the highway and over the trees. They glided in circles, their wings folded. I watched as long as I could.

I never won a Palmer Method medal. I thought I did the best circles, but I was wrong. My guess is it had to do with arm placement. I knew I wasn’t supposed to move my arm, just my hand when doing all the exercises, but I couldn’t keep it still. My arm went back and forth and up and down. In second grade I got spelling and religion ribbons for having 100% on both year-end tests. The ribbons had the subject written on the front and a pin on the back so they could be pinned on my blouse. They had to do.