Foggy Days

The weather has gradually become cooler.  The first frost lay on the grass last week. 

A chance of snow is in the forecast next week, but there are still roses blooming.

Hopefully, the mosquitoes are all laid to rest until next year.

(Nothing worse than to hear the buzz of a mosquito near your ear in the middle of the night!)

Fog (and smog) have become the norm, replacing the bright blue skies

we enjoyed for a couple of weeks.

We've had a couple of smog alerts--the girls' PE classes that are normally held outside

were revamped to avoid strenuous exercise and you just feel like you

are breathing in awful stuff.  Many Chinese wear pollution masks

 (looks like a surgical mask) as they ride their bikes.

Of course, some of them have a hole cut in them for the ever-present cigarette.

Still, autumn is one of my favorite times of year.

We don't have a lot of colorful trees--no maples here, just ash trees and cottonwoods.

And, apparently here at Warner, the fountains run for one week in the spring

and one week in the fall,

and this past week was our lucky week.

There is nothing so soothing as the sound of trickling water.

"By the fountain" is the favored meeting spot for outings with other women 

and where the girls meet their bus,

and for one week, it was very pleasant.  

The rest of the time, at least you can sit on the fountain edge.

The best thing about autumn is being able to fix a cup of something warm to drink,

and we still have THREE bottles of Postum. 

We don't want to ship back any food at the end of our three years, so that

means we can use one bottle per year.

And there's no guilt for using it NOW.  

I was recently at the Tesco supermarket, browsing the beverage aisle, hoping to find

a cereal-based hot beverage.  In France, there was "Caro".  In the U.S., now that

Postum has become part of history, there is "Pero".  Non-caffeinated, made from

roasted grains, very nice to drink when hot chocolate is too sweet.  (And of course

I don't drink coffee or real tea.  Herbal teas aren't usually my favorite).  I came across a drink called "Milo".  With the label all in Chinese, I wasn't sure what it was.  Then I remembered my phone.

I did a google search for Milo, found out it is a vitamin-fortified malted chocolate drink,

originating in Australia and found all around the world.

I bought some and wasn't too impressed, but then I never cared for Ovaltine either.

And I'd rather have a shake than a malt, any day.

At least with my phone, I was able to find out what it was. 

Modern technology is SO amazing!