This afternoon in Charlotte’s garden.

I’ve been meandering around my back yard this afternoon, savoring the faint - very faint- hint of autumn in the air. The temp today is tolerable and the humidity low….there’s a light breeze that slightly ruffles my hair. If you weren’t being mindful I guess you wouldn’t even notice the change - but it’s there. I snapped the picture above of a seed pod on my magnolia tree - a true sign of autumn. My pear tree is heavy with fruit that bows the limbs down to the ground.



When I planted this tree it was supposed to be a Bartlett Pear but when it bore fruit it turned out to be a plain old cooking pear. Uneatable unless cooked but it makes awesome pear preserves. Trouble is, I don’t have the time I used to have to make them….it is an all day affair, after all. The making of the preserves is actually very easy - you just have to keep an eye on it as it cooks down. Here’s my easy-peasy pear preserves recipe:

6 cups pears (about 16)
3 cups sugar
1 slice lemon

Peel and slice pears and cover with water. Add sugar and lemon. Cook slowly on low heat four hours or until the fruit is light in color and of preserve consistency. Maked 2 to 3 pints.

Hmmm…..that is sounding pretty good - maybe I’ll get motivated after all.

Now for something completely different…….

Are ya’all familiar with Coast to Coast with George Noory, a late night radio talk show? The premise is discussion of the unexplained….everything from alien abduction to near-death experiences to Kennedy assassination theories and everything in between. It comes on at mid-night every night but I subscribe to the podcast so I can listen at my leisure. It’s always interesting and controversial and isn’t that what makes life fun anyway?
So a couple of weeks ago I listened to a podcast about Betty and Barney Hill, the first alleged alien abductees back in the sixties. I’ve always been skeptical of this story which is what made me listen to it. I really knew nothing about these people and was quite surprised to learn about their background, she a social worker and he a USPS employee. They were very active in their community and Barney was a leader in the civil rights movement. Both were involved with the Office of Economic Opportunity in founding the Rockingham County Community Action Program in New Hampshire and Barney was the first executive director of that program.

Needless to say, they didn’t talk about their experience with anyone for fear of losing their credibility and reputation in the community. Finally, after consulting two lawyers in an effort to keep the story out of the news, they were forced to tell because of an unauthorized version published in the Boston Herald Traveler in October of 1965. Together with John Fuller they published The Interrupted Journey in 1966.

The podcast I listened to included the actual tapes of Betty and Barney under hypnosis recounting their experience. It was quite chilling and I’ve been thinking about the subject of abduction quite a bit since.

“The supernatural is the natural not yet understood”
~~~Elbert Hubbard (American editor, publisher and writer, 1856-1915)

What do you think?

Your response: