October 14th, 1997 The message, in itself, was unremarkable. Subtle words, written by one with no wish to offend. Talk about the weather...blah blah blah. And then, a quite tempting proposition. Of course I'm not that type of person anymore...I am no longer so impulsive, my flights of fancy now take many months of preparation. "I'm thinking of spending Xmas in Puerto Vallarta." "Wanna come?" Would I..... The leaves are beginning their fiery dance, while the wind carries the smell of roasting chestnuts and the sound of the whistle from the sweet potato cart as it rolls through my neighborhood. I should be able to enjoy the fall, instead of dwelling on the fact that it is followed by the long, horrible winter. I should be able to enjoy the long days and the clean and brisk, but not yet frigid, air. I should...but I can't. Let me just go on record and say that winter and I have agreed to disagree...there is no love lost between us. Born and raised in a seasonless city, I am still unnerved by each change. Which is not to say I have any problem with summer...it's really only the cold winter that I. Can't. Stand. In fact, I have done my best to escape its clutches for the last few years with well-timed trips to Hawaii and California. This year is another story. We are sacrificing the "winter escape" for a vacation of slightly larger proportions in the spring. I'm fine with that, really. Really. I was at the home center yesterday and I went to look at the turtles. I've been considering buying one, since a dog is out of the question. The turtles are usually swimming around in the same tanks that hold the feeder goldfish, but on this day they had all clambered out on the one rock and were facing the sun lamp with their heads fully extended. There wasn't much room on the rock's surface, so they were standing on each other's backs. A few had formed accidental pyramids, and the whole thing had the look of a three ring circus. I laughed out loud and then realized that I was being stared at, as usual. As I ducked my head and walked away from the tanks, I started thinking that a sun lamp might be just the thing for me. That and a rock to lie on... Or maybe just a trip to Puerto Vallarta. . . . SMQ1997

or perhaps...