Super Metroid

I had a fabulous time this weekend! I made a nice, leisurely stroll up the I-5 corridor, with plenty of stops to make not-necessarily-vital purchases that still fall into the whoo-hoo-I'm-thrilled-with-this category, including a little coffee table from Ikea. Mmmmmm, Ikea….. Tricia and Justin's wedding was beautiful, with great music, lovely decorating, and a great reception. And the ceremony itself was just lovely. Unfortunately, this wedding served to illuminate a troubling fact: at the rate I'm going, by the time I actually get around to getting' hitched, all of the unique and original ideas I have fermenting in my mind will have been used! The unfairness of it all! I had a good time hanging out with Melodie and LaDonna and Breanne and everyone else, including the elusive Melina (only a small dig, I promise. And I haven't had a chance to check the RSS feed yet.)!

One of the stops I made, I actually made twice. Nicio put me up for two nights, coming and going, complete with ACK!! One of the leaves just fell off my fibrous begonia!!!!! Sorry, that wasn't actually part of my visit, but it just happened and I hope this doesn't mean my plant is ailing! I'm already about to lose one of the peace lilies. Anyway, back to the story. The second night I was there, Nicio and I succumbed to the siren's song of Samus Aran and she plugged in her Super Nintendo. Talk about momentary temporal displacement! It was so awesome but so strange at the same time. I've had a lingering love affair with the Metroid games ever since Uncle Jim gave us the original Metroid sans any gamebook or explanation of the game at all. We spent hours delving into the secrets of Zebes and discovering the hidden paths leading to that nexus of evil, Mother Brain. Of course, when Super Metroid came out in the twilight years of my high school life, I was again transfixed by the game. Sheer gaming genius combined with a killer soundtrack that to this day has the ability to make me turn on all the lights at night…. *sigh* So, we sat on the couch in the dark, Nicio playing and me watching, just the way it was when I was younger and Moo would play while I watched. I kept expecting Dad to make suggestions or comment on a trick we'd missed behind me, and I kept feeling the layers of my life compressing in a way they don't often do. Honestly, Mom could have walked out of the kitchen and I wouldn't have been surprised.

Since I know that some of you are interested in other things besides video games and weddings, I hereby post some of my fall pictures. Behold the lower pond in Lithia Park! You can see the trees reflected in the water, of which I am particularly proud. The caught reflection, not the water, which is demonstrably green, dirty and disgusting, thanks to the ducks.

This second picture is one of the trees along the road in the park and is an example of one of my favorite kinds of autumn-ness. I love it when leaves turn all different colors at the same time on one tree, but in blocks so you look through a later of red to yellow behind, and then green at the back. Happy Autumn, everyone!