“The autumn frosts will lie upon the ground,
Like blooms on grapes of purple-brown and gold.
The misted early morning will be cold;
The little puddles will be roofed with glass.”
By Eleanor Wylie

The frost did lie upon the ground last Friday, when the temp was just 33 degrees. The impatiens, on the porch, have withered, or rather shivered, away because of the cold. The only plants that are doing well are the geraniums and some of the roses. The grass in our yard is a lovely green but we are waiting for it to be covered with a dusting of snow. We had to put our heat on last Friday. It was so good to feel the warmth in the kitchen and up in the bedrooms. I think that this is one of the latest days in October that we have actually put it on in years. I was up in the attic over the weekend looking through plastic bags for warmer bed clothes. I even got some warmer slippers that cover both the front and back of my feet.

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About six months ago, pal Eileen Collins said that she was planning a five-day vacation at the Irish Village in South Yarmouth. We decided we would join her once again. We had been there before and enjoyed our time there very much. Last Monday was the day we were to leave. We had been up to 11:30 p.m. on Sunday evening packing. As you can imagine, we did not check our luggage as well as we should have. Hubby put the two suitcases in the car, with cans of soda, plus two bags of Utz Popcorn, so I wouldn’t eat anything worse.

The ride was wonderful, with light traffic and beautifully colored trees on the way. We, once again, stopped at Friendly’s in Marshfield for a late lunch. We thought that the place had been newly painted. When we received our menus, we saw the old-style menu was gone. They had some different types of food items and the prices had changed. There was no list of items especially for seniors, except that we would receive a percent off any item we ordered and we would have a “Happy Ending” Sundae free with a meal. We both enjoyed our burgers and were back on the road in no time.

As we came near Hyannis, we decided that we would wait until Tuesday to do any shopping. We drove into the Irish Village and could see the cute leprechaun sand sculpture outside the front door. (How it survives the elements I’ll never know.) Hubby went inside the lobby to register. (Eileen already had our rooms reserved.) I love to watch the trees outside the front door where many birds live. It is a riot to see them darting in and out of the leafy branches. Hubby was out quickly. We drove around the building to the door nearest our room.

The Dining Room manager Tom was standing outside with his wait staff so we were welcomed warmly. He even remembered our names. We dragged our suitcases into our room and hung up our clothes. Thank goodness we both had brought sweaters with us because we heard, on WBZ on the way down, that Wednesday was supposed to be near freezing. Hubby then went out to the car to get the soda and popcorn and saw our friends out in the hall, just a few doors down. They told us that they would meet us in the dining hall just about 7 p.m., when Norman Payne was scheduled to begin playing. I snoozed a little while Hubby watched all the news about the World Series.

Just before 7 p.m., we started down to the dining hall. All our people were there: Eileen Collins, of course, Peg Gorman (Red Sox fan extraordinaire), Barbara Sullivan, and her girlfriend from childhood Mary Bavis, sisters Evie Dunne and Phyllis Hartford, Marilyn Ferrara, Marie Schallmo, Jeanne McCarthy, and Ray and Mary Fronk. We were all there to listen to an excellent Irish entertainer, Norman Payne. I sat next to Barbara Sullivan and Mary Bavas. They told me that they had been friends since their childhood in Charlestown. Barbara told me about being a student at Girls’ High School in the South End. It was almost dark when she came home from school in the winter. We all sang along with the rest of the audience although Norman knew some songs that many of us didn’t know. We finally dragged ourselves back to our room about 10 p.m. We were very tired because we had been awake since 4 a.m. We watched TV and then decided to get ready for bed. “Darn it”, said Hubby, or maybe a little more intense word. “I forgot my pajamas and robe.”

Thank goodness daughter Sue calls every evening. I told her about our easy trip down to the Cape. Then she told me that she would come down to the Irish Village for dinner with two of her Cape friends, Louise and Joanne, both retired Boston teachers. Pal Eileen had checked with Tom in the dining room, to make sure that it would be okay for them to sit with us even though they were paying for their food separately. Before Sue hung up, I asked her to bring me another small tube of toothpaste and hubby’s pajamas and robe. There will be more about our Cape escape in next week’s paper.

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At the 4 p.m. Mass this past Saturday, we noticed that Fr. George, in the bulletin, had planned on saying the Mass in memory of his mother, Mora Carrigg. As Fr. George spoke, he told us that earlier that day, he had attended the funeral Mass for his sister-in-law, Catherine “Kay” (Calter) Carrigg. (She had passed away on Oct. 22.) Fr. George offered the 4 p.m. Memorial Mass on Sat. for both for Kay and Mora. That morning, Kay’s funeral Mass had been celebrated by her twin brother, Rev. Arthur Calter, assisted by Fr. George and Fr. Bill Carrigg. Kay was the wife of the late John Carrigg and the mother of Tom, Jack, Bill, Kathy Butler, Joe, Chris, and Paul. The parishioners of St. Chrisopher’s send their sympathy to all the Carriggs, and to Kay’s brother, Fr. Calter. Kay was a volunteer at Rosie’s Place in Boston.

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I hope that all the local children have a wonderful Halloween.