Fall is here

Today was really cool, a little rainy, and glorious. It felt like fall. We opened up the house over the weekend and tonight it was cool enough to keep the door shut. I made myself a cup of hot chocolate and man that tasted good. We had boiled shrimp and corn on the cob and some more of J's homemade bread for supper. A fall feast!

My dear friend has a birthday tomorrow. She's turning 59, just a month before I turn 50. Another dear friend turned 60 last month. I also have friends my age, but I think growing up with so many older brothers has left me feeling very comfortable with friends who are older. In some ways I'm sure they think I'm a punk, but I'm familiar with much of what they grew up with, having witnessed it happen with my brothers. I may not have shared their history and events, but I was in a house full of people who did. I also think I've been a little old lady most of my life. As the oldest girl, I was super responsible and good, almost like an oldest child. I always said the family started over when it had me because they had to learn how to raise a girl after all of those boys.

I'm really enjoying the book on Mary Lincoln's letters. I alternate between feeling sorry for her and exasperated with her. I believe she managed as well as she could given the period in history and the events of the time, the upbringing she had that prepared her (or didn't), and her own personality which was prone to drama and self-pity. I don't think she was crazy, I think she didn't have the resources or friendships to handle the pain she was handed. We tend to forget when those huge historical events occur that although we may have lost a president, she lost a husband and a father to her children. She also lost her source of income along with the one person who could keep her grounded. She was very short of true friends which is often the case with people in the limelight.

Okay, I've been skipping around on topics. Time to check out.