Fall Has Fell

I blinked..I swear I just blinked, and by golly Fall fell right onto the calendar and cancelled Summer out.  Many around these parts are claiming Summer was never here.  It was a bit cool but I'm not complaining.  It had it's fair share of sun and we had our fair share of pool time.  But today is the first day of Fall.  Many, many folks love this time of year.  I know I do.  I love the colors, the cool, crisp days, the pumpkins and campfires.  I enjoy bringing out the fall decorations and soon....next week...I'll be decorating for Halloween.  I won't even go into what I have in store this year! I'll leave that to other blog posts!  I've been gone for a few days visiting my Mom and Sis out in Chicago.  Jack and I headed out on Friday after work.  By the time we were about there the sun was setting in the West.

Pretty sunsets can happen anywhere! I even got a weird pic on the camera.

Aliens perhaps?  More like a bad photographer!  The main reason we went was to check on Mom.  She's been having back pain and hip pain and I felt we just needed to head out and see what we could do to help.  Jack brings some of his therapy stuff from the office and gives Mom treatments and adjustments twice a day.  It always makes her feel better and this time was no different.  It sucks growing older!  Usually when we visit it's for a special occasion, a holiday, or event that's going on.  This time it was just us and Mom and Midge.  We laughed, talked, ate, watched some TV, did some shopping and had a nice quiet visit.  The only other family time was a quick trip to say hello and celebrate my great niece's 3rd birthday.  It was at a place that only kids could really love....lots of jumping, climbing, sliding and yelling!

Blurry shot of my nephew, Bill and his birthday girl Alexa..

This place had rooms of bouncy houses and even a climbing wall:

The kids had to be tuckered out after all this was over!  This morning before we left I took a walk around my childhood home. 

My Dad built this house in 1951....it was redone in 1963 after a fire destroyed the upper level. (a faulty electric wire in the eves was to blame)  I was 10 and home babysitting for just a short time while my parents went for a quick trip to the store....by the time they were back the house was in flames and the fire department was there.  I got my 3 younger siblings out to safety.  I know 10 sounds young to be given that responsibility,  but in a big family you start early helping and taking care of younger kiddos. 

I remember my Dad planting trees like this pine....I used to jump over it when I was little!  Now it's huge...some of the others he planted had to be removed as time went on.

My best friend lived down this road.

The backyard didn't look like this then. It had smaller trees and a swing set and a garden and grape arbor.  Although it's changed over the years, family and friends still gather here for fun and get togethers.  Some things never change!

The sun was rising in the East...Chicago is about 30 miles east of Mom's.  We had to head out and get back home.  The visit went fast, but we enjoyed it.   It's hard to say goodbye to those we love and each visit is treasured.  It was hard to bid Summer a fond farewell too.  Fall surely has fallen here! As my Mother-in-law used to say: "Happy Fall y'all!"