AND SO IT BEGINS...

Hey, everyone! Look toward the bottom of this photo.

Is it true?

Could it be?

Yes, indeed! Halloween-Goodies-in-stores season has officially begun!

THE WONDER OF "THE BIG BLUE WHEEL"

It’s that time of year: carnival time! It’s the one time of the year an empty, barren lot transforms into one spectacular event remembered for generations to come. There’s something so magical about a summer carnival. The smell of buttery kettle corn and rich caramel apples, roaring laughter coming from both the young and old alike, and most of all the lights that magically take you away from the normalcy known as life.

When I was a kid, my cousins and I always stood in a lengthy line and purchased our tickets. Before we purchased cotton candy and all those “goodie things” that ruined our suppers, we rode the “big blue wheel.” It may have seemed like just another ferris wheel, but to us kids who were frightened by the mere sight of such a colossal wonder riding such a huge wheel that appeared to have stretched to the heaven was considered “bragging rights” that lasted for the remainder of summer vacation from school.

And even though the grounds will empty when the school bells ring again and the glories of autumn arrive, we will enjoy our memories until the big blue wheel arrives in town again next summer.

A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY

I know, I know…bad, BAD blogger. But I’m not going to make excuses. Instead, I’m just going to own it and go on.

But anyway, on a happier note let me tell you where we went to over the weekend. There’s this awesome place called Cruze Farms. It’s only ten minutes from my house and believe me when I say it’s like stepping into a time machine and going back many years.

It all begins with going into a quaint little restaurant on the premises called, “The Pizza Barn.” When you first walk in, all these posters and portraits of old-fashioned farm life hang everywhere. Even a portrait of a cow’s head hung proudly above the front door. After you finish eating pizza, you then go to the ice cream parlor and dairy market that is held inside an old historical home from the late 1800’s.

Grant it, a tiny part of me wanted to stay there forever: to sit under an old oak tree, eat ice cream and whistle the glorious day away. But I couldn't. Instead, I decided to call it a day and do it all again soon where I sit outside on the front porch, listen to a tune being played on an old piano, and be grateful for the little things.