I do love this time of year, summer ebbing into autumn. Here in the southern Rockies, the leaves have begun to turn on some of the trees and shrubbery in the high country, the air has a wisp of coolness to it, the sun no longer burning hot in the deep sea of sky…

For those of you who read the BTD forums, yes, I did go white-water rafting with my family on my birthday; it was awesome! My father-in-law joined us as well. My youngest son was almost popped out of the boat going through some rough and steep rapids but fortunately he fell into the boat instead of out of it. We went out for dinner that evening as part of the celebration… we rarely eat out. It is interesting in ordering a meal as a B; I seldom need to ask for substitutions. But I always feel somewhat funny requesting baked potato instead of wild rice… and quite frankly, I would prefer the rice. I think I still have that ingrained belief that wild rice is a better carb choice than potato, even though it is an avoid for B secretors. I suppose that in most commercial wild rice blends, there is very little actual “wild” rice, but I still feel better choosing a neutral over an avoid.

My A-non son started middle school last week and part of sixth grade orientation was a free school lunch… no need to bring lunches on that day. My son was very distraught and remarked how sick those school lunches make him feel. So we consoled him… realized that there was no place for him to keep a sack lunch handy on that day… gave him snacks that would fit in his pockets and sent him on his way. What did he have for lunch that day? … fried chicken fingers and French fries. A very costly "free" lunch by our standards.

Today, for the first time in months, I went out to garden. It was so lovely being outside leisurely in the late summer sun. Of course at this point, there is no garden really to tend but lots of weeds to pull. I don’t know what it is about pulling weeds but it always brings me home to myself. And it is so satisfying to clear a portion of garden that is overgrown with weeds. As the patch of weed-free garden soil emerges, the cleared space also helps to free the clutter in my mind that invariably accumulates there….

Later for dinner, we had buffalo patties on the grill, along with a large salad. I placed a small piece of butter in each patty to help keep it moist as lean buffalo can be quite dry. They were fabulous! I did not used to like buffalo but it has grown on me. My O son, of course, has always loved buffalo meat.