The Happy Place: A Photo Challenge

It’s Sunday morning. Sunday is usually the last day of the weekend, but this weekend brings a holiday on Monday – Columbus Day. So, our ‘Sunday’ is Monday, and we get an extra day to renew and restore.

Last night, B and I waited up as long as we could but we finally fell asleep when W, our oldest, came home after the high school homecoming dance – his last. Our daughter O, and youngest, started off at a friend’s house across the street, then went to see a movie.

Saturdays are busy for our family, W plays football and is on the field Friday night for the varsity game, but plays Saturday morning in the JV game. O plays softball and her games are on Saturday afternoon. And, there are chores, too stuff that doesn’t get done during the week.

Last night, I ordered pizza – pepperoni, onion, and garlic with extra sauce, in case you wondered. B and I shared it watching baseball (the Cubs) and then, college football trying to stay awake. I knew it would be a late night, late enough to post this response to the Word Press Photo Challenge – Happy Place. But, I couldn’t write struggling for focus and I decided to finish Sunday morning.

I’d been to one of my ‘happy places’ Saturday morning. Sunday, we’ll drive west to another ‘happy place,’ and then spend Monday finishing the weekend together – chores and preparing for the coming week.

I am happy, almost always, in almost any place, I am reasonable flexible person, but there are times when there is comfort in small, simple things. Saturday brought one; Sunday will bring another.

W’s JV football game was at 8:30 Saturday morning, he had to be at school at 6:45 and he was a difficult young man to awaken. It took several trips upstairs before his feet hit the floor and he began to move.

W’s JV team won their game and he played, but that’s another story, for another time. This football season has been a lesson in adversity for W and his senior class.

After the game, I asked B if she wanted to go to the French Market. She smiled and replied, ‘”yes.” I drove and picked the route, choosing a longer but more peaceful tranquil over the more heavily travelled shorter path.

Yesterday morning was a picture perfect early fall morning with crisp cool temperatures and a clear blue endless sky; perfect weather for a Tiger win and a visit to the French Market.

frenchmarket
it’s fall and the leaves are turning, soon falling….

I wanted to visit my flower vendor, Ari’s Flowers. I love their flowers and I’ve been posting them often this fall. We had struck up a conversation several weeks ago and I shared that I planned to give all of my students a pink Ticonderoga pencil to honor a former student, Melinda and her late mom and Breast Cancer Awareness month. She mentioned that she was a breast cancer survivor and wanted to for something my students, too. Last week I gave her a package of the pink pencils when I stopped in to buy my anniversary roses and she reminded me to come back this week.

It was a perfect morning for the French Market.

B and I walked the aisles. The aisles are narrow and sometimes it’s a slow patient walk past the vendor’s stalls. Our first stop was Ari’s flowers. B picked her flowers – a dozen roses. I talked with my friend and she handed me a bag of paper cranes – 150 of them. I am looking forward to sharing them when school resumes, Tuesday.

B’s next stop was at the gluten-free bakery, then a produce vendor, another produce vendor, and finally a stop at the apple cider donut maker – made fresh on site. B tasted and decided they were good and purchased a dozen. There were two donuts remaining this morning.

B's roses....
B’s roses….

My hands were full – roses, cranes, and grey-pumpkin, so I headed back to the car. She climbed in a few minutes later and said,

“I should come here every Saturday morning, it does me good.”

I couldn’t agree more. It’s a happy place. We were at the market for less than a half hour, but it was long enough. I’ve been using Mesh to share my iPhone photos and below is the French market Mesh – The Happy Place. Enjoy, be happy.

Later this afternoon, we’ll drive west into farm country, another happy place. We’ll pick our pumpkins and gourds, watch combines work the fields harvesting corn and soy beans, and we’ll watch the sun set before having dinner together in a country restaurant. We do it every year and I look forward to the boost it gives me, the boost it gives us.

It’s gonna be a great day, but it’ll be difficult to top Saturday – trust me, yesterday was amazing for more reasons than I can write about now, I’ll have to write about it and share it later. Either way, I’ll make the day count and pay it forward. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, one happy place after another.

Where is YOUR ‘happy place?’

9 thoughts on “The Happy Place: A Photo Challenge

    1. Thank you, Coleen – hope all is well. The colors were magnificent this weekend, but I didn’t make it to the French Market. Saturday was rather dreary, busy at home on Sunday and back to the grind this week. Have a wonderful week!

  1. I can’t imagine a better day, friend. And the serenity of sharing it with the one you love. You know I’d have to comment on those beautiful donuts, too.

    My happy place is where my kids are. Usually, the soccer pitch, but sometimes, in places just before and just after. They’re the common denominators, though.

    1. The donuts were delicious, did I mention that they were still warm? Our kids are what keeps us sane AND, half crazy. It’s a delicate balance. I ordered an Astros hat – orange – and it arrived. I’ll be watching tomorrow night and praying on the edge of my seat. I hope they can do what the Cubs did this evening. Have a wonderful week and thnaks for stopping by – be happy!

    1. Thank you Patricia – your comment posted at the right time. We spent Sunday out west and had a great time – I slept well after breathing the fresh country air. I think they do, but I’d never know it. They use it as a primary source when they need to write a narrative paper for school! had the most amazing conversation with W’s football coach Saturday. I’ve got to find away to tell the story. Have a wonderful week, mine is almost half over. Yikes!

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