Fall is really here

When we got back from the cabin last Sunday, I remember looking around the neighborhood and thinking, well, it'll be a few weeks before we see signs of fall here. But of course I was wrong. Fall is happening down in Boulder too. When I went for my walk yesterday I decided to take pictures of signs of fall, and there were too many to choose from. This shot is of a tree in the park. It's funny how some branches turn yellow before others, but look -- there are already yellow leaves all over the ground.

I still have my hummingbird feeder up, but it's pointless -- the hummers are all gone. I hope they made it over the Rockies before the first snow last week (we didn't have a first snow, but the mountains did).

So, what should I write about this week? It was a fairly quiet week, this first week of fall. I titrated down to 7.5 mg of Mounjaro, from 10 mg, and was just as sick as ever, so that was a little disappointing. Maybe it will take some getting used to. Just like on 10 mg, I slept most of Tuesday, felt awful on both Monday and Wednesday, STILL felt somewhat bad on Thursday, and not even that great on Friday. It's the nausea more than anything. I have such a cranky stomach. I think the fatigue might be less, though. 

I'm trying to transition to afternoon walks (since it gets dark too early to walk after dinner, now), and I thought I'd also try to take longer walks, at least until it gets cold and icy. So, on Monday and Tuesday I did nothing, Wednesday I took a normal walk (1.19 miles in 26 minutes), but on Thursday I took a longer walk (2.05 miles in 46 minutes), and Saturday I took an even longer walk (2.6 miles in 58 minutes). What I'm aiming for is 3 miles in an hour. When I lived in Michigan I walked for about an hour most days, and I think it was about 3 miles. Surely I can get back to that, 30 years later. Maybe. Right now, walking for an hour seems terribly difficult. But maybe I can work up to it, and maybe I don't have to do it every day. Three times a week would be good, for this old lady.

Otherwise not too much went on this week. I managed to write on a couple of days, but did no pruning at all. Just kind of low energy. Rocket Boy made his special mac & cheese for dinner on Monday and we had the leftovers on Tuesday. Wednesday I fixed tilapia with almonds and lemon juice, and Thursday I made the Thai pineapple fried rice that is a family favorite. 

On Friday night, Rocket Boy, Teen B, and I went to see "Black Box" at the high school, which consisted of five short, one-act plays, each directed by a different student. They do this every year, and last year, Teen B and I tried to go to it but it was "sold out" (it's free, but only a certain number of tickets are available). So this year I made sure to get tickets early. The audience was seated on the stage, in a semicircle, and the actors performed in the middle of the stage. Minimal props, simple costumes, but good acting.

The first play was about some stupid rich people on the Titanic, the second was a serious play about a family whose members didn't listen to each other, the third play was about a guy who wanted to be a vampire but the existing vampires didn't like the taste of his blood, the fourth play was about a couple communicating through post-it notes, and the fifth play was about a couple trying to assemble an Ikea dresser that turned into a robot that planned to kill them. The whole thing only lasted about an hour, from 7 to 8 pm. It was fun.

This coming week, actually tomorrow night, is Showcase, the concert where all the musical groups perform, so we'll go to that too. Normally it's on a Saturday afternoon, but this year apparently they couldn't find a good Saturday to do it, so it's on a Monday night, which is weird. But we'll be there. 

Rocket Boy always likes to do things on the weekends, which somewhat conflicts with my great desire to rest, sleep, read, write this blog, etc. But I try to go with him every two or three weeks, just to be nice -- and to get myself out of the house. Today, Teen A and his friends decided to hike the trail to the Clifford Griffin monument, near Silver Plume, which Rocket Boy and I have done in the past (pre-twins). Rocket Boy wanted SO much to be invited along, and tried hard to convince himself that they wouldn't mind his company. To keep him away from the teenagers, I suggested that he and I go to the Denver Botanic Gardens, so we did that.

It was a perfect day to be out and about and the gardens were soooooo pretty!

I couldn't remember the last time we were there, but it was a while ago, and I thought maybe early fall would be a pretty time to go, and oh, it was! So many flowers were in bloom. The ones in this picture were actually a deep purple, not the magenta that my camera picked up. I don't even know what they are. They were gorgeous.

We saw multiple couples being photographed among the blooms, possibly for engagement pictures? We also saw a young girl in an enormous purple ball gown, who I think might have been there for a quinceañera. There was an area that was roped off for an "event" and people were arriving for it, so that might have been it.

There was also an actual wedding taking place in the Woodland Mosaic Garden and Solarium and we saw the bride! That's a tiny place for a wedding -- I think it would only accommodate 20-30 guests. But a very lovely setting.  

I didn't use my app, so I don't know how far I walked, but I was tired when we left around 4:30, so it was something. And my eyes were happy! So many pretty flowers to look at. We also looked closely at the grasses. Rocket Boy is trying to grow buffalo grass in our backyard, so he is very interested in grasses. There were bees everywhere, frantically gathering pollen from all the flowers, definitely not wasting their time stinging anybody. But no hummingbirds. They're gone.

And now we're home and Teen A is home (he won't tell us about his hike, but I gather it went well). We're having leftovers for dinner, so that's easy. We ate out at the Nepalese restaurant again last night -- I like that place a lot. Very homey. 

The week ahead looks pretty basic, after the Showcase concert tomorrow, that is. No appointments that I know of, just the beginning of October. I'll try to write, and prune, and walk, and do all the usual housework, and grocery shopping, and cook dinner at least twice. 

We are very worried about the looming shutdown, even though neither of us has a job to lose. Our money is so tied up in the government -- social security, and the Thrift Savings Plan, and all that. If the economy crashes, that will affect the twins' college funds. But mostly I worry about the country. It seems clear that Dear Leader is trying to move toward martial law, so that we won't have elections next fall. It's so frightening to think about. The next big protest isn't until October 18th. Maybe I'll work on my sign this week. Doing something is better than just worrying. Like a scared rabbit (like this one in our side yard). But that's what I feel like these days.