what I did on my autumn vacation...

I helped erect a long wooden fence (after having helped lug the 8-foot sections from the Home Depot to my daughter's house), I trimmed trees and cleared brush and luxuriated in a steaming hot tub afterwards.

I visited my granddaughter's pre-school and toured the properties my son-in-law manages.

I spent a day at an amusement park with both of my grandchildren having a wonderful time riding charming kid-friendly rides nestled amongst majestic trees (while the older "kids" got whatever thrill one gets from rollercoasters going to insane heights at insane speeds.)

I cooked an early Thanksgiving meal for 15 people (after shopping for same at the local Super Wal-Mart.)

I went to one movie and a half-dozen or so several restaurants. I ate too much ice cream and just enough pizza.

I got down on the floor nearly every day to experience the world through the eyes of the cutest 3-year-old girl in the entire world.

I slept at hours that perplexed my internal clock and I was almost always the last one in the house to get out of bed.

I pleaded with the mosquitoes not to find me so tasty, endured the majestic roar of navy jets screaming towards the nearby airfield, and silently contemplated the rain that danced down during the last couple of days of my stay.

And tomorrow I take wing back west...back to the land of sunshine and prime time football games that start at a decent hour.

All in all, it was a grand couple of weeks.