Happy first day of fall!

A pumpkin patch at the supermarket where I shop, displaying some fall colors before the leaves start to turn in our area. 

Pumpkin PATCHES are POPPING UP around town once again, especially in grocery stores and farmer's markets. It's one sign that fall is here! Well, it officially arrives tomorrow. The temperatures in NYC have been gradually going down unlike in past years when summer weather sometimes LINGERS even in October. This time the TRANSITION into autumn is smoother, which is nice. I like it. :-)

• PATCH - a small piece of land used to grow fruit or vegetables; the produce from this land
• POPPING UP - appearing
• LINGER - stay longer
• TRANSITION - change into something different

A nice time watching the U.S. Open final competition

Watching the final game of the US Open in Brooklyn, with Lower Manhattan in the background.

We THOROUGHLY enjoyed the #AmexTennis #USOpen event at Brooklyn Bridge Park early this week. It was a nice VENUE with the Manhattan SKYLINE providing a dramatic BACKDROP. I even SCORED a nice, free picnic blanket which I'm sure we'll use again. I wish I had also gotten the free picnic basket with the sandwiches that came in it; they looked really yummy, and my mouth WATERED just watching people around us eating. :-| Unfortunately, the line was too long, and we would've missed a big part of the game. Now I KNOW THE DRILL; next time, I'll be first in line. :-)

• VENUE - place for an event
• SKYLINE - outline of the buildings of a city; view of a city
• BACKDROP - view in the background
• SCORED - unexpectedly, luckily get something #slang
• MOUTH WATERED - salivated; wanted to eat
• KNOW THE DRILL - know what to do #idiom

A nice, albeit short, honeymoon

New Milford, a quaint Connecticut town we came across and enjoyed visiting on our short honeymoon getaway.

Well, after being together for 7 years, the fiancee and I finally TIED THE KNOT in a small ceremony at the NYC City Clerk's Office. Then the day after we GOT HITCHED, we headed up to Connecticut for a long weekend GETAWAY, where we relaxed a bit and did some exploring.

We had a wonderful time, and we came across a few things that made the trip special. We saw a couple of QUAINT towns with old train stations and abandoned railroad tracks. We CHECKED OUT a couple of small, family-owned wineries, and drove up and down long and winding, scenic country roads. A deer on the roadside GAVE ME QUITE A STIR and got my heart pumping a little. Thankfully, it went the other direction and into the forest. The wife was THRILLED to see some chickens pecking around in an open field around a CHICKEN COOP.