Climbing The Hodgepodge Mountain

Welcome to this week's edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post, then go say hey to your neighbor there. Leave a comment too because comments make the blog world go round. Here we go...

1. When you think of autumn what sounds come to mind? 

a crackling fire, leaves crunching underfoot, geese honking overhead

2.  Is a trip to the mountains something you enjoy? What's your favorite mountain? 

A trip to the mountains is one of my favorite things and I can't possibly choose a favorite. I  live on a lake surrounded by the Blue Ridge. Boating under the bridge and seeing the main channel open up with the mountains as backdrop takes my breath away every single time. 

My grandparents had a Colorado farm with a view of the Rockies which was truly breathtaking. 

I'm  also really partial to the Great Smoky Mountains which is where hubs grew up, where we've spent a lot of time, and where we have family still. Lots of Smoky Mountain memories in my mind and heart. 

And then I've always been a little bit obsessed with Mt. Rainier. My daughter1 lived in Tacoma for several years when she was first married and you could see the mountain from her neighborhood. Swoon. 

We got up close to it on one of our trips there and she's a beauty. 

Wait. The Alps. I forgot the Alps. How did I forget the Alps? 

The village of Chamonix with Mt. Blanc looming large is pretty spectacular. 

Are all mountains spectacular? I'm going to say yes. Did you come here today to see my scrapbook of beautiful mountains? 

3. What's something that once felt like a mountain, but is now just a molehill? 

Retirement. There's so much to figure out and understand in the early days, and while there are still things to figure out, we've got this. It's no longer a mountain. 

4. Let's play this or that-fall foods edition. Yes you have to choose. 

• pumpkin spice latte or chai latte 
• apple cider or hot chocolate  
• stew or chili
• sweet potato casserole or green bean casserole 
• butternut squash soup or creamy mushroom soup 
• cranberry sauce or gravy 

Here are my choices-

chai latte 

apple cider but only if it's warm, if it's cold then I'll take the hot cocoa

chili, especially the first pot of the season-this meal says fall and football season have arrived 

sweet potato casserole-green beans are my favorite green veg, but not in casserole form

creamy mushroom soup

cranberry sauce 

5. Sum up your September in a sentence or two. 

Festive family birthdays, fun with friends, fierce football games, and fantastic mountain views.

Thirty days has September. Each one lasted approximately 2.4 seconds. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I was with friends this past weekend and we spent an afternoon wandering around our old university. The campus is still so beautiful. 

Question-why are college kids so stressed out? They can literally take a slide from their dorm and grab Chick-fil-A in the student center. 

We were typing papers on actual typewriters for professors who literally measured the margins with a ruler. Then we'd go to Kinkos at 1 AM to make copies because copiers were rare and kind of expensive. Kinkos was open 24/7 for just such a purpose. 

Progress, right? 

But hey, I think the times helped make us strong and resourceful.