It was a beautiful fall afternoon, the sun was at it’s peak and I was once again admiring all the color in my backyard.

My husband, Steven walked in the room and stood next to me. “What are you looking at?” he asked.

“The trees are so pretty this year.” I said, sipping my cup of tea. “But my favorite one is our tada tree!”

Steven looked confused. “Tada tree?”

I pointed to the little tree on the side of our yard. “All our other sassafras trees turn yellow and a few turn orange. But that little guy is the only one that turns a brilliant red! I just love it!” I gushed. “I’m so glad we decided not to cut him down.”

When we first moved into this house, two summers ago, we were in the back yard with our tree guy trying to decide which trees should stay and which ones needed to go. When we got to the tada tree it seemed a given that it would be taken out. It was small, crooked and a little too close to the fence. But something about the tree, maybe because it had so many reasons why it should have come down, became the very reason I felt it needed to be saved. “That one stays.” I said.

I remember how surprised and our tree guy was. “Really? Are you sure? Your yard is full of sassafras trees and that one doesn’t look like it’s in very good shape.”

“I like it.” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “It reminds me of Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree.”

Now Steven looked confused. “What?”

I shrugged my shoulders again. “Someone just needs to show it some love.”

Steven just sighed and shook his head, then moved on the the next tree and it’s fate.

I smiled, oddly happy that my strange little tree was staying.

Now Steven and I were standing at the window admiring it’s brilliant color. “I feel like every fall that tree is thanking us for keeping it.” I looked at Steven and smiled. “It’s saying “TA-DA!” with that burst of red. Reminding us what we almost gave up.”

“Is that what it’s saying?” Steven asked.

“I’m serious.” I said as I bumped him gently with my hip. “Sometimes you just have to follow your feeling.” I explained. “Clearly I was getting a good feeling from that tree, it needed to stay, and now it’s thanking us in the only way it knows how.”

“So are you getting any special feelings for that dead pine?” Steven asked as he pointed to the pine right behind the bird feeder. “I was planning on having the tree guys back to take it down.” Steven started to laugh. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t getting a vibe that maybe it should stay.”

“Laugh all you want.” I cried. “But I also fought for the lilac bush you and the tree guy thought should go.” I placed my tea cup in the sink then looked back at Steven. “Remember how beautiful it was this spring?”

Steven nodded in agreement then shrugged his shoulders. “It was nice.” he admitted.

I was in an antique center with a friend when I happened to see something that I’d been wanting to get for years. After negotiating a price with the owner I grabbed my phone and called my husband, Steven.

“You’re never going to believe what I just found!” I cried when he answered.

“Try me.” he said with a laugh.

“Remember Mom’s Seth Thomas Cathedral clock she had on her mantel?”

“How could I forget that thing!” he said. “It chimed every fifteen minutes! It drove me nuts!”

“Really?” I was surprised. “I loved that clock.” Now I wasn’t sure how to proceed. “I just happen to be standing in front of that very same clock right now.” I decided to test the waters, “I was thinking about buying it for our house.” I said.

“Is it chiming?” he asked.

“It is.” I said. “I had the owner wind it up for me.”

I remember, as a little girl, watching my Mom use her key to wind her mantel clock every few days. No one else was allowed to touch that key except her. I’m sure she was afraid we’d over wind the clock and break it.

But now I had a chance to own my very own mantel clock. I smiled as I looked back at the clock.

“Do you want me to hold the phone up to it so you can hear it chime?” I asked Steven.

“No thanks.” he said. “I remember what it sounded like.”

“It’s one of my favorite childhood memories.” I told Steven. “I wasn’t a very good sleeper when I was young. I can remember laying in bed at night listening to the chimes then waiting for the gong to strike telling me the hour.”

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe you weren’t a good sleeper because of the clock?” Steven asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You never thought you were up because the clock was waking you every fifteen minutes?”

That stopped me for a moment. “I never thought about it.” I admitted. I looked back at the clock sitting on the shelf of the antique store mesmerized by pendulum as it swung back and forth.

“You sleep through the night now, don’t you?” he asked.

“That’s because between work and kids I’m so exhausted nothing could wake me.”

“I can guarantee if you buy that clock you’ll be up every fifteen minutes listening to it.”

I was disappointed but I knew what he was saying was right. “I guess I’ll pass on the clock.” I said.

“You made a good decision.” he said.

After I hung up I was still feeling a bit sad. The owner of the store came over to me. “Do you want me to take the clock up to the front desk for you now?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, I’m going to have to pass on it.” I said. “My husband talked me out of it. But thank you so much for winding it up for me.”

The owner shook his head. “Great.” he said sounding a bit disgusted. “Now I’m stuck listening to that thing chime every fifteen minutes for the next few days!”  

I was on a road trip with my sister Donna. We’d just gotten into the car when she asked, “Did you step in something?”

I quickly checked the bottom of my shoes. “No why?”

“You don’t smell that?”

“I don’t smell anything.”

Donna shook her head sadly, “My nose is just so sensitive.” she said. As we drove out of her neighborhood we saw a man walking his dog, they were stopped on someone’s lawn. “Now I know where that smell came from.” she said with disgust.

We continued on our trip. About twenty minutes later we were on the Thruway. “Do you smell macadam?” she asked.

“Macadam?” I took a deep breath in through my nose. “Nope! I don’t smell a thing.”

Seconds later we were passing a crew of trucks paving one of the the lanes. “Wow!” I said. “I smell it now!”

Donna just shrugged her shoulders. “It’s a curse having this nose.” she said. “Now all I can smell are oak leaves.”

“Well it’s fall and we’re on a leaf peeking trip so I’m not that impressed with that.” I said. “But how can you just smell oak leaves?” I asked.

She turned to look at me, tears streaming down her face. “Because I’m allergic to oak leaves.” She pointed to the box of tissues in the back seat. “Can you grab me one?” she asked. “I’m having a hard time with my allergy’s this year.”

I handed her some tissues and watched as she mopped her cheeks.

By now we’d reached out first destination, a farmer’s market.

As soon as we opened the car doors, Donna was overwhelmed. “Wow, do you smell the pickles?”
I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, “Nope. I don’t smell anything.”

“It’s a curse I tell you.” She said as we started to look at the different booths.

Sure enough there was a pickle booth. As I got closer I could smell the garlic pickles. “Oh my gosh, they smell so good.” I said. “I think I’ll get a jar.”

By now Donna’s nose had moved on. “Someone’s selling lavender.” She said.

“Wow! It’s like walking with a Bloodhound.” I said. Then changed my tone as if I were talking to a puppy. “Which way to the lavender, girl?”

“Very funny.” Donna cried but then pointed behind us, “It’s that way.” she said sadly.

We got the the lavender booth and I was trying to choose between a satchel or the oil. Inhaling both I couldn’t decide. “Which on do you like?” I asked my sister, handing her both to smell.

She held both up to her nose. “I’m sorry.” she whispered to me. “But now I’m smelling lavender and fish.”

“Ewww.” I cried, but backed into the isle to look at the other booths. Sure enough someone was selling fish a few booths down. “You’re right again.” I said.

“It’s a curse.” she said again.

By now we’d finished our shopping and were headed back to the car. “Alright, now I’m smelling oranges.” she said.

I looked around, but no one was selling citrus. “Sorry, you’re wrong this time.” And had to smile. “It’s apple season! No one is selling oranges!”

She pointed over to a little boy sitting at a table eating a bagged lunch. I looked over as the Mom was peeling an orange for him. “It’s a curse.” she said again.

As we put our bags in the car and climbed in I closed my door and was ready to put on my seat belt Donna asked again. “Are you sure…

But I cut her off. “If you ask me to check my shoes again I swear…” I left the threat hanging. “Maybe you should check your shoes.”

Just then we both saw the dog at the same time. “Okay, you win.” I said. “What you have is a curse.”

“Told you.” she said.

I looked out my kitchen window and saw a large gray bird sitting on the top of my bird feeder. “What kind of bird is that?” I thought to myself but it was too far away for me to get a good look at it.

That’s when my son, Alex walked into the kitchen. “What are you looking at?” he asked as he stood next to me looking out the window.

“Do you have any idea what kind of bird is sitting on top of the feeder?” I asked him as I pointed to the bird.

Alex looked outside, then looked back at me, “You’re kidding, right?”

“No.”

“Then I’m going to say a gray bird.”

“You’re no help.” I said, as I looked back at the bird. He was perched on the top, not eating, but keeping all the other birds away from the feeder. “I thought it might be a Mourning Dove.” I added. “But they usually hang out under the feeder.”’

Alex didn’t seem impressed. “Whatever you say.”

“See, this is why I want a pair of binoculars.” I said. “I’d be able to get a better look at him and be able to use my bird book to identify him.”

“We’ve talked about this before.” Alex said, in a warning tone. “You can’t sit out on the deck with binoculars. The neighbors will think you’re spying on them.”

“That’s where I think you’re wrong!” I argued. “I’d be looking up in the trees. Who’s going to think I’m looking in their windows?”

“That bird on the feeder isn’t up in a tree.” Alex tried to reason with me. “If you were standing in here with binoculars the neighbor behind us would think you were looking at them.”

I tried to ignore him as I pleaded my case further. “But if I’d had them last spring when the Cooper hawk made that nest in the top of our neighbors’ tree I would have been able to watch the babies grow. Instead I had to be satisfied with just hearing them call for the next feeding.”

“Okay, maybe if you were only looking up in the trees.” Alex said.

“See?” I sounded hopeful.

“But you know if a bird were sitting on the neighbors windowsill you’d be trying to get a look.” Alex added.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Only if it were a bird I didn’t recognize.”

“See?” Alex cried. “That’s what I’m trying to stop. Do you want you’re neighborhood nickname to be Creepy Binocular Lady?”

“What!”

“I’m just warning you.” Alex said. “Because that’s what your neighborhood nickname would be.”

“Wait, that reminds me. Have you seen Oven Mitts lately?” That’s what we’d named a nice older gentleman who walks the neighborhood everyday. He got his name last winter when his giant mittens looked a lot like oven mitts. “I haven’t seen him in a few days.”

“I saw him yesterday.” Alex said. “But that’s what I’m taking about. We like Oven Mitts. We worry about him.”

“Of course we do.” I said. “He seems like a nice man.”

“Do you think the neighbors are going to feel the same way about Creepy Binocular Lady?”

“Creepy Binocular Lady.” I said under my breath. I shook my head in defeat. “Why do you do this to me?”

“Just trying to protect you.” He patted me on the shoulder as he headed for the refrigerator. “You’re welcome.”

Now that the weather is turning a bit chilly I’m back on spider watch. I walk around the house with a tissue in my hand just waiting for one to show up so I can squish it before it gets away and hides.

It was early Saturday morning when I heard my son Alex calling me. “MOM! There’s a spider in here!”

I rushed down the hall, tissue in hand, and saw Alex standing outside his bathroom door. He pointed in the bathroom, up towards the ceiling. “That thing is huge!” he said.

I looked up to where he was pointing, and he was right, the spider was the size of a quarter.

“Why does everyone call me when there’s a bug in the house?” I asked.

“Because you like bugs.” Alex said as he backed away to give me more room to work.

“What are you talking about?” I said as I inched my way into the bathroom, the tissue in my hand ready for battle. “I don’t like bugs!”

“Sure you do.” he said as he closed the bathroom door a bit. “You’re always talking about the great bug you just found outside, or looking them up on the internet if you don’t recognize it.” It sounded as if he were trying to convince me.

“I think they’re interesting, but only when they’re outside.” I said as I slowly climbed up on the toilet seat, trying to sneak up on him. I was keeping my head down low so if he turned out to be a jumper he wouldn’t land in my hair. “I don’t want them living in my house touching my stuff or biting me!”

“Oh, my mistake.” Alex said through the crack in the door. “So, did you get him yet?”

By now, my husband Steven had come down the hall. “Get what?” he asked Alex.

“Mom’s getting a spider in my bathroom.”

“Oh, she’s good at that.” Steven said.

“Hey!” I called as the spider and I were now staring at one another. I moved my tissue to the left the spider moved to the left, when I moved to the right, so did he. “If either of you would like to come in here and help, that would be nice.”

Steven peeked in the door. “There really isn’t enough room for two of us in there.” he said as he looked up at the spider I was about to squish. “Wow! He’s huge!”

“I know!” I cried. I could feel my legs start to shake as the adrenaline coursed through me. My fight or flight response was kicking in and at that moment, flight was starting to win.

I finally decided to lunge at the spider at the exact same moment the spider decided to jump down from the ceiling and disappear from my sight.

I’m pretty sure the neighborhood could hear my scream as jumped down from the toilet seat and raced to the door. Because the door had only been left open a crack I ran right into it pushing it closed. Now I was in a very small space with a very mad spider. I kept screaming until I found the doorknob, at the same time looking over my shoulder picturing that huge thing coming after me. When I was safely back in the hall, leaning against the closed door I sadly looked at Steven and Alex.

“I didn’t get him.” I admitted.

“I was going to take a shower.” Alex said.

“You’ll have to use our bathroom.” I called over my shoulder as I went to the linen closet. I got a towel and placed it at the bottom of the bathroom door making sure he couldn’t get through the crack by the floor. “We’ll let him calm down a bit before I go back in there again.” I said as I sat down on the floor and waited for my heart to stop pounding against my chest and my legs to stop feeling wobbly.

I was just getting all snuggled up on the couch wearing my sweatpants, tee shirt and an oversized sweatshirt – what I like to consider my pajamas – when Steven walked in wearing the same thing.

“I guess we both had the same idea.” he said as he sat down on the couch and picked up the television remote.

“I love this time of day.” I said as I pulled the afghan off the arm of the couch and wrapped it over my legs. “I’ve done everything I needed to do today and now I can relax for a few hours before it’s time for bed.” I listened as the wind howled through the trees making me pull the afghan up closer to my chin.

“It’s my favorite time of the day, too.” Steven said as he began surfing through the channels. “Do you know there are days when I actually get up in the morning and count how many hours I’m going to have to be in my work clothes before I can run home and change into my sweats and do just this?” he said.

“You’re preaching to the choir.” I said as I adjusted the pillows to get more comfortable.

Steven finally settled on a program on the Discovery Channel, that’s we’d only seen a few times before, when our son Alex walked into the room.

“Do you want to go get your sweats on and get ready to settle in for the night with us?” I asked him.

He looked at Steven and then back at me. “Do you two realized it’s only three o’clock on a Saturday afternoon?”

“Sure we do. That’s what Saturday afternoons are for.” I said, moving my feet to make room for him to sit. “I’m hoping to get in a good nap before I have to start making dinner.” I added.

Steven smiled over at me. “A nap sound great.”

Alex shook his head and laughed. “I’m going over to the mall to catch a movie with some friends.”

I listened to the wind howl outside. “Are you sure you want to go out in this weather?” I asked. “It’s miserable out.”

“It’s not that bad out.” he said as he held up my car keys. “Can I take your car? Mine’s out of gas.”

“Sure. It’s not like I’m going to be using it anytime soon.”

“I can see that.” he gave us both a kiss on the top of our heads before heading out the door.

I sat up and looked over at Steven. “Are we pathetic?” I asked.

Steven shrugged his shoulder, Maybe.” he said looking for another show to watch. “But at least we’re warm and dry and pathetic together.”

I grabbed the phone to make a quick call to my younger sister, Donna. After a few rings she picked up. “You’re never going to believe what I was just asked?” I laughed.

“I couldn’t even guess.” she said.

“Someone wanted to know what my twin was up to!”

“Oh, my gosh! I haven’t heard that question in years!” she cried.

“I know!” I shouted. But the excitement soon faded from my voice. I paused for a moment before I continued. “Now, I have a question for you.”

“What?” she asked.

“Why did Mom want to make us look like twins?”

The reason I called my sister about this is because I don’t have the photographic memory my sister seems to have. Donna could tell you what the cafeteria ladies’ names were when we were in grammar school. She can remember what they served every Friday and where every grade sat to eat! I, on the other hand, can’t tell you who my third grade teacher was.

“We’re only fifteen months apart, and we were the same size and height for so many of those years, I just think it was easier for Mom to buy two of everything.” Donna explained. “She never dressed us exactly alike. Don’t you remember she’d get us the same outfit in different colors?” I could tell she was trying to gently nudge my memory.

“I guess I kind of remember.” I said, but I was lying.

“Don’t you remember those plaid skirts she got us? You had the green and I had the blue. We always wore them with the white ruffle shirts.”

“It’s coming back a little.” I could see us wearing the plaid skirts as we ran down the driveway headed for the school bus.

“How about the A-line dresses she’d get us? Don’t you remember the one with the sailboat on the front?” Donna asked.

“Oh my gosh!” I cried. “We both hated that one!”

“See? Now you’re beginning to remember.” she said.

“Wow! I don’t know how you do it!” I said. I had nothing but admiration for her memory.

“Well, actually I cheated on this one.” she admitted.

“How do you cheat on a memory?” I asked.

“Remember a few years ago I took Dad’s old slides and had them made up into photo albums for all of us?” she said. “When you first called I went and got mine out. I have to admit, when I look back at pictures of us we did look a lot like fraternal twins.”

“So are you telling me that we can’t blame Mom for playing the whole twin thing up?” I asked.

“We did look pretty cute dressed alike.” Donna admitted. “Go get your photo album out and see for yourself.”

“No, thanks.” I said. “I kind of like the memory I have Mom making us look stupid as twins, not cute.”

“Suit yourself.” Donna said. “But now that we’re older I think you might appreciate how cute we looked as “twins”.

“Wait a minute!” I cried. “I remember now! That horrible sailboat dress we both hated! Wasn’t I the one who always got stuck wearing it?”

Donna laughed. “See your memory’s coming back!”

Annamarie, Adrienne and I were sitting around after work discussing our day when I suddenly remembered I’d been wanting to ask Adrienne a question for some time.
“I saw your selfie on facebook.” I said to her.

“Which one?” she asked.

I had to laugh because she did take a lot of selfies. But I couldn’t blame her, she had some sort of selfie magic, they all seemed to come out great. “You know the one of you paddle-boarding out on the river? It was a great shot!”

“Oh thanks!” she said and smiled. “That was a fun day.”

“So how do you do it?” I asked.

“Do what?” she asked looking a bit confused.

“Take an adorable selfie?” I asked. “With all of your other selfie’s I just thought you took dozens and dozens of pictures until you got the right one. But when I saw the one of you out on the water I knew you couldn’t possibly be taking that many shots. Not while you’re balancing on a board hoping your phone doesn’t fall in the water.”

She laughed again.

“So do you have a special selfie app that helps take a great picture?”

“No.”

Now Annamarie jumped into the conversation. “So how do you do it?” she asked.

“Do what?”

“Take a great selfie!” we said together.

“I don’t know!” Adrienne was still laughing. “You just hold the phone up and take a picture!”

I couldn’t accept that answer. “I’ve tried that method but no matter what angle I hold my phone I seem to be looking up my nose!”

She started to laugh. “You need to hold the phone up higher.”

“I have!” I cried. “But when I hold it up too high the picture is of me squinting or it looks like I smell something bad!”

“Me too!” Annamarie agreed. “The squinting part.” she added, looking over at me, “Not the smelling something bad part.”

“Whatever.” I said shrugging my shoulders. “Can’t you just show us how it’s done?” I asked again.

“Are you serious?” Adrienne still sounded baffled.

“Yeah!” I felt as if I’d cornered her and was finally going to learn all her picture snapping secrets. “Just take a selfie now.” I dared her.

She shrugged her shoulders. “Alright what do you want me to take a picture of?” She was holding up her phone scanning the room with it.

“Anything you want.” I was watching her, thinking I should be taking notes, but so far she wasn’t doing anything I hadn’t already done myself. Her arm was out as far as it would go, the angle of her face wasn’t any different then what I’d done so, now I was beginning the get confused.

“So you hold the phone up, look for the background you want and snap the picture.” She smiled, pushed the button and snapped a shot of herself. “It’s not that hard to do.” she said as turned the phone around and showed us her perfect selfie.

I stared at that perfect picture for some time. “That’s just great.” I finally said sadly as I looked at Annamarie. “I don’t know about you, but I felt a lot better about myself when I thought she was taking dozens of pictures and just posting the best one!”

Annamarie nodded in agreement.

“Now I feel like I’m just a complete selfie failure!” I looked at Adrienne still holding her phone out to me, her perfect selfie shot still staring back at me. “Thanks for that!” I said as sarcastically as possible.

Dinner was over and I was just putting the last glass in the dishwasher when my son Alex came into the kitchen with his car keys in his hand.

“I was cleaning off my dresser and I found these.” he said, holding out two gift cards to the bookstore. “I’m going over to see if I can find anything. Do you want to come?”

“Really?” I quickly shut the dishwasher door and hit the start button. “I’d love to go! Just let me grab my shoes and purse and I’ll meet you at the front door.” I raced to my bedroom. I couldn’t believe he’d just asked me to go with him. He didn’t need me to drive him to the store, and he didn’t need me to pay for his books. In fact, he didn’t need me to go at all. He was asking me because he didn’t mind spending time with me. I was almost giggling as I grabbed my shoes and purse and raced to the front door.

“I’m ready!” I called, trying not to sound winded.

“Wow, that was fast.” Alex said as he opened the door for me.

“I didn’t want to give you a chance to change your mind.” I said as I followed him out to his car.

“What?” Alex looked confused as he opened his driver’s side door looking over the roof of the car at me.

“Nothing.” I said shrugging my shoulders, trying not to sound so pathetic.

As we drove to the bookstore we chatted and laughed, catching up with all our recent news. I’ve always loved driving anywhere with Alex because the car is where we seem to have some of our best conversations.

Once we got to the store we went our separate ways to shop. Several minutes later, Alex was at my side, holding a book. “Are you ready to go?” he asked.

I had two books tucked under my arm and was in the middle of reading the back cover of another. “Sure.” I said as I put the last book back on the shelf and headed to the checkout counter.

“I can wait if you’re not done.” he said.

“I’m finished.” I said, holding out my two books. “If you let me, I’d spend hours in a bookstore.”

Alex laughed. “I didn’t want to spend that much time here so I guess we are done.”

Once we were at the counter Alex held out his gift cards. “Did you want to put your books on this?” he asked.

I was overwhelmed. “Those are your gift cards.” I said as I reached for my own wallet. “I’ll pay for mine.”

“I don’t mind.” he said.

“I know you don’t, but still…” I was speechless. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have such a nice guy for a son. I was pretty sure that if he held the bookstore door open for me on our way out I was going to burst into tears. So, I made sure we each got a door handle on the way out.

As we got back into the car I didn’t want our outing to end. “Do you want to go for some ice cream?” I asked.

“Sure.” he said. “I brought my wallet. How about it being my treat?”

I couldn’t answer right away. I was back to feeling like I was about to cry.