{Virtual Coffee}

It's Tuesday, which means it's time for virtual coffee. If we were meeting for coffee today I would tell you that I didn't cry yesterday morning (for the first time) when I took Riley for his first day of school.

It always seems to be a strikingly sunny day for the first day of school and I'm a little sad all the photos I got were squinty ones.

I did catch his usual worried expression when he's looking for friends in the schoolyard.

And so it goes. Another ten months ahead of us and it feels like the energy has tangibly shifted. The nights, the mornings, the lake and the pool water - all drastically cooler than they were ten days ago. There, now that made me cry.

If were were meeting for coffee today I would tell you that it's MushroomGate in our neck of the woods. And there were even some little tiny Grimm's fairy tale type of red ones I didn't capture. What I did find was this spooky black one

some that looked like they belong under the sea

the bold

the classic

the umbrella style

the "there's a leprechaun living under here" ones

and how about a Dr. Suess orange one with some kind of polka dots

or ones that could be puff pastries with a sprinkling of confectioner's sugar on top

and this one that I don't even know where to begin to describe.

I might ask you if you think a seven legged Daddy Long Legs might be good luck?

and oddly enough there were two seven-legged beasties side by side which made me wonder if a new bug species has been born

or if you ever heard of my dock spiders being called "jesus spiders" because, dang it, they actually walk on water. I will admit that from time to time when I see one of these honkers I have taken the lord's name in vain.

And I've said even worse when I walk into these kind of camouflaged webs strung between trees.

If we were meeting for coffee today I would tell you that I ran into an equally scary zombie

and discovered that I am highly allergic to this proliferating beastie of another variety.

If we were meeting for coffee today I would ask if you also feel as if these have gone and changed whilst you weren't looking

and as beautiful as they are, their next step is to fall off and my mind won't even let me go where the next step is. But if we were meeting for coffee today you would chide me and remind me that I am supposed to be living in the moment. Then before we headed over to Amy's Lucky Number 13 for one of her hillbilly cinammony lattes we would stop by The Rock Fairy's place and drop this rock in her lap and see what she would come up with to paint on it.