The little boy, maybe 2 and a half or so, stood on the edge of the lawn pointing happily at the red and orange leaves in the gutter. He wore no hat nor gloves. He had on no shoes or socks. He wore only a short-sleeved tee-shirt and thin shorts. The temperature was in the 50s. What the heck was he doing outside? As we pedaled by him on our bicycles, I did not see any adult keeping tabs on him. Odd. A few houses down the street, an elderly man was mucking about in his garage. "Excuse me," I called, hopefully, "Are you missing a boy?" "No," he said. "Is there one missing?" "There's a little boy on the corner. He isn't wearing any shoes or socks." "That's not good," said the man looking up the street.  "Do you know where he might live?" "No," said the old man. The husband and I turned back. The little boy couldn't or wouldn't answer any of our questions. "What's your name?" ...

Earlier this week, I stood beside my car and took a shot of the evening sky to the west. Then I turned and took one of the sky to the east. How amazing the difference was! At least, to me. To the West To the East To see sky views from around the world, check out Skywatch Friday .

Dear Readers, I wish each and all of you joy, peace, love, and happiness. Thank you always for your visits.  Truly yours,  Su- sieee ! Mac

The photographer wishes to thank the husband for agreeing to pose at the given moments and allowing her to post the following photos that exemplify the spirit of idiosyncratic iconoclasts. (Whew! What a sentence of big formal words. That is, for me.) Want to meet the husband? Click over to Arrmac's Blog ! Want to check out more "I is for..." posts. Head over to Alphabe-Thursday , hosted by Jenny Matlock.

I like Autumn.  I seem to wake up in the fall.  Maybe it's because I'm a fall Autumn baby.  Yes, that sounds good. This week, I'm participating in Outdoor Wednesday , hosted by A Southern Daydreamer. See what other bloggers have been doing outside by clicking here . P.S. I'm also linking up with Follow Friday 40 and Over, hosted by Never Growing Old. Come check out other blogs with me by clicking here .

Because Veterans Day fell on a Thursday this year, the past weekend was a four-day one for some folks. A few of our friends think that the husband and I have a seven-day weekend because we work at home. I say they're just envious. But, I admit that if I ever had to do a 9 to 5 job again, it would be a very difficult adjustment. So, knock on wood that won't need to be. Anyway, back to the highlights of the weekend. Thursday The husband and I went downtown to watch the Veterans Day Parade. That was the first time I've been to one. Ever. It was a short, but fun, parade.  If you love a small town parade, come to Hollister, California.  A couple weeks ago was the high school homecoming parade. A couple of weeks from now will be the "Hey, it's time for Christmas!" parade. That's not the real name, but you know what I mean. Other annual parades that march through downtown include the Portuguese Festival Parade ,  the Horse Show and Rodeo Parade , and the Mexican ...

Yes, another reading challenge for me to try.  This one is all about Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women . It was one of my favorite stories when I was a teenager.  I identified with Jo, the tomboy, the fun sister, the romantic,  the outspoken one, and the writer. Who didn't? So, this challenge, the All Things Alcott Challenge .  What's it about? Click on the link to read the details. Essentially, participants decide how many items related to Louisa May Alcott to read, listen to, or watch that they hope to complete by December 31. My goal is the number 1. Between now and then, I will read at least one book by or about Ms. Alcott. Update of Other Challenges The 200 sit-up challenge . I finished that last week. Did 200 crunches all in a row. Yep, I did. Jumping three times daily . That's on hold. My right ankle is now screwed up.

For more sky views from other places around the world, click on: And, if you're interested in learning more about my hometown, click over to Take 25 to Hollister .

Asking for help can be so difficult for some people. The mama, for instance. The nearly-90-year-old woman  is stubborn about asking me to help her with the harder chores in the garden. But, she gladly takes the help, if I happen to give it without asking, "Do you need help?" It's taken me awhile to recognize how silly that question is.  It's similar to asking a visitor if she would like something to drink. According to the Mama, you don't ask, you just serve the drink. So, I've learned to keep my eyes and ears open to what's going on when she's outside. For instance, when I hear the sound of metal scraping against cement, I head outside to see what the Mama is doing. And, usually she has set up the ladder against one of her many trees to pick some fruits or prune tree branches. "Here, let me do it," I say, as I shove my feet into my shoes. "I can do it," she says, as she's about to climb the ladder. We spar back and forth a coup...

I took this photo of the clouds a few days ago. Like the sky, the events of this week have been simply glorious. The San Francisco Giants won the World Series. Yep, indeed! And, no wealthy fat cat was able to buy the governorship in our state. Ha! It's Skywatch Friday and Follow Friday 40 and Over! for me today. Join me, won't you? Click on the links to check out what other bloggers are posting.

San Francisco Giants, that is. Yay, Giants! I admit it. I jumped onto the bandwagon when the Giants won the first game of the National League play-offs. I watched some of the second game, they lost. I missed the third game, they won. I saw a bit of the fourth game, they lost. I decided I was a jinx. So, I stopped watching. I didn't even read Facebook updates on how they were doing, and just read the headlines the next day. Since I stopped paying attention to baseball after the 1995 baseball strike, I had to show my loyalty to the Giants by not watching them win the NL pennant and the World Series championship. Boy, did I miss some good baseball! Between 1986 and the baseball strike, I was a Giants fanatic. Those were great years. Roger Craig was the "Hummmm, baby" manager. What a crew he had.  Together, Craig and team eventually worked their magic to play against the Oakland A's in the 1989 World Series. Unfortunately that series played second fiddle to the 7.0 Loma P...

In several hours I'll be meeting a friend to talk about blogs. Writing them and reading them. She's thinking about dipping her toe into the blog water. She wants to know if she would ever leave her house again should she venture forth. I told her it would be the opposite. She'd be out and about, her ears and eyes continually open for post ideas. Fellow bloggers, what say you? If the friend decides to go for it, she'll be doing it through Wordpress. Until three hours ago, my experience with that blogging platform was zilch, nada, nothing. Three hours ago, I was very hesitant about getting a grasp of the Wordpress blog basics. But, how was I going to give the friend an idea of what she would be getting into, if I didn't find out. There is definitely a difference between Wordpress and Blogger, which I've been using for the last three years. The first thing I noticed was how overwhelming the instructions were to do this and that. But, once I figured how to publish a...