Yesterday morning was one of those amazing October mornings, where it rained off and on and the sky was sort of brooding — the kind of weather that’s tailor-made for all those scary black & white movies Hollywood made in the 1930s — the ones about old haunted houses or abandoned castles, where a group of strangers suddenly becomes stranded from the rain and must spend the night there…  The kind of movies that were scary but fun! They didn’t make you feel like puking!

There was nothing scary about yesterday morning, though. It was just moody weather. I decided to take a walk because I had to run a quick errand across the street anyway, and the world just looked so autumnal. I brought some bread with me (and an umbrella!) because I wanted to feed the ducks down by the creek. On my way there, I had to stop in at City Hall and pay my gi-normous water bill.  I was so relieved that I was able to pay it before it was due because this town not only has gi-normous water bills, they tack on gi-normous late fees if you pay the bill even one day late… [Foreshadowing, folks!]

As I walked up the steps to City Hall, I looked down at my water bill and at the check I had made out to pay the water bill, and what to my wondering eyes should appear?? The bill had actually been due the day before. Honestly, I was flabbergasted. This means an additional $35 in late fees for basically no reason whatsoever. I could have easily paid the bill the day before, but I thought, what’s the rush? It’s not due until Friday… But au contraire. I really felt blindsided by that.

Then I proceeded into City Hall, which is a really small building by most City Hall standards, and for the first time in my 8 years of paying water bills in there, I noticed that they had a court room. I could see it plain as day through big glass doors. The judge was sitting up on the bench and a bunch of people were sitting there, waiting their turns to pay gi-normous fines, no doubt.

It was such a weird feeling. First, to be so wrong about the due date on the bill that had been sitting out on my desk for an entire month; then to discover this entire courthouse that I had never once seen before, even though it’s pretty much the main thing in the main hallway there when you walk in. I felt so weird. Is this what it’s like when you’re on the verge of dementia? I wondered. Hmmm.

But I decided to just let it go; for whatever reason, I walk around half-crazy all the time. I’ve been like that forever. Guess there’s no reason to stop now.

So I proceeded on my walk and it was a beautiful walk. There were all those wet, colorful fall leaves all over the pavement, and the dark sky was filled with foreboding but I didn’t care because I had my trusty umbrella with me.

The creek was crystal clear and rushing merrily along, and the ducks were very happy to have some bread so suddenly, early on a Thursday morning. (Bread is usually the weekend routine, when happy toddlers abound! But, luckily, I have sort of remained in a toddler frame of giddiness my whole life — oh, except when I am in the depths of misery and suicidal despair. However, I haven’t been in that frame of mind for a couple years now, so I believe that has passed for good. I guess we shall see as more time passes.)

Once the bread was gone, I decided to walk farther down the path, into the woods, to where there’s a wooden bridge that spans the creek.  And suddenly light rain drops began to fall. It was so beautiful because the rain drops sent flurries of fall leaves fluttering down from the towering trees all around me.  And once I reached the bridge, the raindrops were splashing down into the creek. It was just so peaceful. I was the only person there. Way off in the distance, I saw a family of white ducks on the bank; they were just waking up. Everything made me feel so blessed.

I turned around and headed for home, then. I wound up having just a really peaceful day.

Okay, on that note, I’m running late here today. I gotta scoot. Have a fantastic Friday, gang, wherever it finds you!! Thanks for visiting. See ya!