So how's the leaf show in your town?  Things here in East Tennessee have been a bit of a disappointment this year.  The super-dry weather this summer and fall was probably to blame.  We took a trip over the mountain to Cherokee, NC, last week, and the colors were nice on top of the mountain, but little to photograph.   We visited Mingus Mill, which was gorgeous, due to the mist and fallen leaves, then Oconaluftee, which is a living history museum that focuses on Cherokee life prior to the Trail of Tears.  The boys loved the tour.  They were especially fascinated with the sweat lodge.  Gabe was carsick after the slow, curvy drive back home, and he commented that he needed to spend some time in a sweat lodge, "sweating out my impurities."  

    Mingus Mill, Cherokee, North Carolina 

Joe at the Sweat Lodge

Skipped enrichment classes last week to see Slim Goodbody at the Bijou Theater.  Anyone remember Slim from The Captain Kangaroo Show?   It's still the same man, many years older, still slim and with a good body.  The boys thought it was really cool, and it made me wistful for my childhood.  

We have continued to volunteer at a local nursing home, and our 4-H group recently became involved as well.  We helped the residents wrap shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse, and then filled them with girl or boy items to send to underprivileged children for Christmas.  We also played Bingo with the residents one recent afternoon.  It's neat to see how being with these folks has changed my boys (particularly Gabe).  I remember the discomfort on their faces when someone would ask them their name over and over, but now, Gabe just says, "You know me, Miss ___.  You see me every week."  And she'll just smile and say, "Oh, yes, I remember now."  I jokingly tell them that they are in training for when I get old, but I'm not really joking.  So many of those folks literally get abandoned by their families, and it breaks my heart to think about being cared for by total strangers at the end of my life.  Anyhow, enough of that.  

Halloween was a candy extravaganza.  We've never really gone trick-or-treating, but this year, the boys went to a big neighborhood with a couple of friends.  They came home with several pounds each.  Yuck!  I still haven't decided what to do with it all.  I'm too chicken to just toss it.  I'm thinking of doing some sort of trade.  Though Joe would rather keep the candy.  No matter how good the trade. 

The Boys in their Costumes

Angel had a show several nights before Halloween, and the theme of the night was "Hallowqueen,"  so they dressed-up like the band Queen and did cover songs.  I decided to go as a 1950's prom queen.  It was exhausting.  My shoes hurt and the half a can of hair lacquer to keep my beehive up was enough to get me through several more Halloweens.  And people kept asking Angel if he was the Burger King.

The King and Queen

Has anyone been out comet spotting?  We went to the Physics Building on the University of Tennessee campus Friday night for the Comet Watching Party.  I was blown away by all the people there.  The professors were so great.  It made me want to be a student again.  Benjamin had decided  that he wanted to be an astronaut and was pretty amazed by what we saw.  Until the car ride home.  He asked (rather quietly for him), "What happens when astronauts want to come home."  And I said, "Hopefully, they re-enter our atmosphere and make it home safely."  Then Joe chimed in.  "Ben, if you don't make it back, it's ok.  You're just that much closer to Jesus."  I couldn't help laughing, and Ben no longer wants to be an astronaut.