fall
the last apples

I’ve been having minor glitches with my older laptop for quite some time– for instance, I can’t log into certain websites, like google maps or associated press, because the little beast cannot take it, and crashes. Yesterday I went out looking for a webcam, but the salesperson was aghast and amused when he found out my operating system was 10.3.9…. That’s the problem with technological consumerism, I griped. The tool still _works_, but we are told to _upgrade_ nonetheless. Instead of making additions to working equipment, we are meant to toss out the bath, the baby, and just buy an entirely new family.
Bah, I say! There is no happy ending to this story.
The sad thing was I spent several minutes gazing at the latest model laptops. They were thinner, lighter, and had the little camera eye embedded inside its sleek frame.
Seductive, Dave. Don’t you ever forget that, Dave.

I’m looking forward to the weekend. I will finally have time to go to the river valley. I want to walk alongside the shallow wide water and listen to the trees.

There are two blue spruce trees in the front yard. When I look out the window I can see boreal chickadees flitting, darting, dipping for tiny insects. Head tilted to one side–
Meep! Meep! they say.

A great blast of dragon fire roared as I waited for the bus this morning. I looked straight up, and the green hot air balloon was so close I could almost touch the basket.