Bonfire at Tamanend Park in Southampton PA

Just called the park and left a thank-you message for letting us use their pavilion for free. They grandfathered us in. Nice!

Was talking to my sister Amy in Eugene OR this morning while riding my stationery bike & mentioned I use an entirely different brain for writing than for talking. Amy's favorite mode of exercise is 'hot yoga' where you do your positions in a 104-degree room. Whew!

We all dressed warmly for the bonfire. It was quite chilly but there's nothing like a roaring fire to heat you up. I must say it's absolutely mesmerizing to watch the fire, you simply can't look away. At the end, we threw things in and watched em burn: such as marshmallows and pieces of Kleenex. Absolutely thrilling! Being there is its own kind of high.

My 3 favorite foods were:

Hot dogs - Helen got me the low sodium
Ada's brownies
hot cider
S'Mores
Pomegranate sparkling juice

Topics discussed at the Bonfire included: death by fire - the room fills with smoke and you can't see anything; arsonists (my adopted cousin, unfortunately I'd never met him, he smoked pot all day long; A Serious Man, the latest Coen Brothers film; ladybug infestions; the successful removal of a brain tumor for someone's psychiatrist.

Helen forgot to bring a poem to read, Little Orphan Annie. It was her dad's favorite.

Please pass the S'mores.

Quite a no. of times I was laffing hysterically. Nothing like a good laff. Or a good shit. The newly discovered Arnie is a riot. If something bothers him, he writes a letter. He wrote Waldfogel a great letter. Waldfogel told him he was OCD so Arn sends him a letter and never sees him again. The reason I laffed so loud is cuz I do the same thing.

I'd say for the first 20 minutes of the event people didn't talk shop. Then slowly this all-important part of our life insisted on sharing time between talk about gas fireplaces and solar panels and backyard swimming pools, maybe w/Carrie Fisher sliding home with her one-woman Broadway show Wishful Drinking, she gets maintenance ECT treatments, so we were in little groups under the covered pavilion while Larry turned the hot dogs on the grill and Helen stirred the hot cider on the Coleman stove (they're campers).

Marion brought a couple friends who waxed ecstatic about the bonfire. It was so good to hear total strangers praising the BF. It's like camp, they said. Camp for grown-ups.

Oh god did I feel like a grown-up yesterday. I got 7 new windows put in my house and a number of other improvements. They forgot their caulk and left it here. I hope I don't mistake it for toothpaste or cake icing.

I didn't bring up the windows at the bonfire cuz I haven't totally processed their appearance. It's like when you get a new car and you look at it with love and admiration. I'm in the early window-acceptance process as I lower it into my cerebellum.

Did you watch the NOVA show about the large Turkish family who walk on all fours? No one had seen it. That's a show you really wanna discuss w/someone.

As usual the conversation turned to the word Bonfire. I conceded that we don't really make a bonfire since we're not in the middle of an open field. It's really a campfire. When my kids were teens one of them used to have a friend who regularly made a bonfire. If you're a mom you're not allowed to attend these events as you might embarrass your kids. So I kept that concept in mind and then somehow when I discovered Tamanend Park, less than 15 minutes from home, I decided to try it.

That was 5 or 6 years ago. Massive organization on the part of Helen and Larry go into this. They work as a team. After everyone left for the evening, they sit in the folding chairs and burn all the logs they've brought. I never stayed with them before but did last nite. I knew Scott would be asleep by 10 pm so I could stay out as long as I wished.

Larry turned out the lights of the pavilion and we sat by firelight. When I returned from the bathroom behind my favorite tree, I reported there was a fine mist in the air. Not exactly rain. As we sat in our chairs Larry pointed at an opening in the ceiling where we could see the mist filtering down from the sky as a huge spiderweb swayed softly.

'I'm waiting for the officer to show up,' I said. When I'm not in a panic I don't call em cops but refer to them nicely. If, however, I'm driving or a passenger, I'm not gonna say, "Hey, you might wanna make sure you're obeying the rules, there's a police officer hiding behind the bridge abutment."

Finally a car pulls up and a man w/a flashlight heads our way. We figure it's about midnite, the time we said we'd be leaving.

What're you folks doing here? said the cop.

Larry and Helen spoke real slow, as if they were exhausted.

I told the cop we had reservations until midnite.

Did you reserve it for overnite? said the cop.

We didn't know what he was talking about until he left and we looked at our watches. It was 1:45 pm. We were shocked.

Driving home I took the beautiful backroads near my house. Fallen leaves had made a beautiful carpet on the road. Be careful of deer, I reminded myself. I was paying total attention to the beauty of the leaves and driving to the rhythm of the music on the radio. I was having major dopamine rush, or maybe it's serotonin rush. 80 percent of the serotonin in our body is produced in the stomach or intestines, hence the pleasure of eating?

Suddenly my car began to slide uncontrollably. Just for a second. Whew, that was close, I said to Jesus. Now drive slower, Ruthie.

At one point there were simply leaves all around, floating down from the trees in the misty rain, and on the road, and off to the side. I felt like I was in the Fun House at Euclid Beach Park back in Cleveland and my sisters and I were driving thru the Tunnel of Stars.

When I got home I removed the sign Bob's Home Improvement from the lawn. "I'm surprised you let him put it there," Scott said. "I didn't," I said. "He just put it there. He also went around the neighborhood advertising his services. That's how I found him."

The windows produce a deep happiness inside. Maybe I should join Iris's Happiness Group and advise people of the greatness of novelty in our lives.

Just put a sign on my front door. Remember, tonite is Halloween: Sorry, Gone Fishing.

I have no patience anymore for Halloween. I'm hiding out on the lower level of my house. How do you want to spend the evening, I asked Scott. "We could watch a movie and cuddle," he said.

You can't get much better than that!