Sunday Salon...Oct.4

The cake donuts table

Weather: Fall like weather, vacillating between blue skies and rainy ones. Yesterday we drove to a wedding near Mt. Rainier and we drove into a cloud. Instead of a picturesque photo opp of the mountain all we could see was a big cloud. It was still lovely.

Brandi and Steven during their reception

Wedding in October: our friends Brandi and Steven got married yesterday in this beautiful outdoor venue. An outdoor wedding in the Northwest in October is risky but fortunately it didn't rain during the whole time we were there. They had a few other different touches---donuts instead of cake and Fireball whiskey instead of champagne. Everything worked and we had a fun time. Blessings, Brandi and Steven, may every day of your new life together be better than the day before!

We toasted the new couple with shots of Fireball.

Update on Muffy: she seems to be continuing to improve and is using her hind legs a bit to push up and to scoot herself around the kitchen but she is still not walking reliably. Yesterday, at Carly's insistence, she took a few steps independently and looked like a drunken sailor. We are starting to feel a bit of hope that she will regain enough function to be able to walk again.

Family: I am thinking of my family members today. For Tom who had surgery on his neck to relieve pain. The surgery itself is very painful. He is having to endure pain to get relief from pain. And for my sister Grace and her family. Their favorite cat sustained injuries because it was mauled by two neighborhood dogs. The cat did not survive the attack. Pets are members of the family and we are sad with you today. For my nephews Brent and Mitchell , and my sister-in-law Becky, who all have/had birthdays this week. I am the bad aunt/sister who always forgets them until after the fact. Sigh. Hope your birthdays were/are happy!

Books completed this week:

• Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier---set in Australia in the 1930s, it is about mobsters and ghosts. It is weird combination but it works. Check out my review and see what I mean.
• Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash---a graphic memoir illustrated and written by Thrash about a formative experience she had at camp as a teenager. Not my favorite (in other words, I didn't like it.)
• The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Chris Riddell. Now this book I did like. Please check out my review and watch the little video with Riddell and Gaiman. Wow. The book is a mash-up of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. My review.

Currently reading:

• Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gwande...Gwande is a doctor who has studied our approach to aging and how we treat our elders as they near the end of their life. I am thinking some new thoughts and hope to share them with my family.
• Shadowshaper by Daniel Perez Older...this is my next YA selection I will to start today.

Fall Colors: Overnight, it seems, the colors on our trees have changed to the lovely fall colors. On our drive up toward Mt. Rainier yesterday we were surprised to see the colors. In the NW we are so used to the green of the evergreen trees everywhere it is shocking to see the bright red and gold of the vine maples in the under-story of the forest.

Best new thing I discovered this week: (I'm a slow learner) is Amazon Prime Music. As a prime member I get access to this really cool resource of music just for the cost of membership. I've been listening to sound tracks all week, including music from my favorite show Doctor Who. This instrumental is from the 11th Doctor.

Prayers: for our nation and how scary it is because our gun laws don't protect us.  Pay for the families of the students killed in Roseburg, Oregon by a mad gun-man. Will it ever end?