Cold weather is coming! Today is the day – the day that the cold air is coming in along with more moisture. Fall is here, and winter is on the way. With that in mind, I brought in a couple of plants, just in case the meteorologists are correct about a possible freeze. My geranium decided to try one last time to bloom before the cold air arrives. I’ll bring it in and see if I can keep it alive this winter. 
I don’t make any guarantees.
My family and I attended the Greek Festival in Edmond yesterday (Oompah!) and dined on Gyro sandwiches, some wonderful Greek beer and wine and of course Baklava for dessert. I bought a lovely scarf of silk and pashmina wool. And as usual, just for the sake of our health, we brought home an assortment of Greek desserts. I know it is fall when the Greek Fest comes around and I even got to wear my new fall poncho.
I’ve gone to work for the local YMCA substitute teaching some classes that I sometimes attend (not the heavy-duty, extremely athletic ones, but the old lady ones). It keeps me active and helps others when the regular teacher needs some time off. It won’t interfere with my writing and who knows I might loose some weight. (unless I continue to eat Greek desserts).
Fall is a time when Mother Nature prepares for a long winter’s rest. It seems to energize me and make me want to try new things. It is soup weather instead of salad weather and maybe with my increased time at the Y, I won’t put on the inevitable winter pounds this year.
What does fall do for you? Do you rest, or does it energize you?
I was asked to speak at SWOSU-Sayre’s annual Literary Festival 
I’ve been working for some time on a pulp fiction novel based on three short stories I’d written in the past. If you’ve read my work, you know I don’t follow on particular genre. I probably should pick a genre and stick with it, but I love suspense and I love fantasy, so I write both (with a few children’s books sprinkled in for good measure).
For the last 6 days my husband and I have been the guests of Village Tours on their Autumn River Cruise 
There was entertainment daily with musicians and storytellers and you could always sit on a deck chair and watch the river go by. I was fascinated by the bald eagles, herons and the monarch butterfly migration we saw as we idly watched the world from the point of view of a major river. If you could secure a rocking chair in the shade, you could spend your retirement there. 
We spent three days on the Illinois and then the Mississippi Rivers going through locks along the way and seeing cities from an entirely different view than you would by car. Each night the bus would pick us up and take us to another lodge for the evening and we were stuffed with food along the way. 
Finally, in St Louis we visited the Arch – the Gateway to the West – and we took the elevator to the top to take pictures, then headed home to Oklahoma the next morning. Our bus driver and tour guide, David and Pam Harms, were fabulous professionals with an eye to detail. We may have been over fed, but not neglected. 
For the last few years, I’ve had some beautiful crepe myrtle bushes in my front flowerbed. They provided color and took up a lot of room and then I had flowers and groundcover around them. I made the mistake of planting daylilies years ago and they tried to take over. This year I even cleared a space for some kale and beets in the flowerbed. I love to experiment.
Friday I was honored by the flight simulator instructors from Vance AFB with a quilt handmade by the wife of one instructor. I had the best job in the world at Vance for 15 years. As an Office Administrator for CSI (Contract Simulator Instructors) I started that job in 1995 in the front office with 23 retired military pilots. They taught the Air Force students to fly, and I kept the office running for them. We lost that contract 15 years later and by that time we had 85 instructors and one Office Administrator. I had help and lots of things changed in that 15 years, but what was most important was that I worked with 85 of the best people in the world. 
Next week, Friday, September 7, 2018 is First Friday in Enid 5-9 pm. 
#weareowfi! was used a couple of years ago to celebrate all things having to do with Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc. Those days came and went, and we are still a great group of writers supporting writers even if I haven’t seen that hashtag in some time. Breaking into the publishing world is a tough nut to crack and you need all the support you can get. And at OWFI, you get the support you need and want. 
I cleared my life of a few books at A New Chapter Bookstore yesterday afternoon. I had a book signing with four other Oklahoma authors. Five authors in one location. It was a beautiful Oklahoma afternoon and I was surrounded by books and good friends. What more could an author want? I came home and ordered more books. 
