A different view

Got to Atlanta Friday evening and have either a) been running around like crazy, or b) finding my inner couch potato-ness.

The first thing that struck me Saturday morning was the crazy, wild, brilliant colors of the trees here. It's the most spectacular autumn display that I've seen in years. New York wasn't nearly this colorful (tree-wise, I mean) when I left. Wowser!

Between Thanksgiving preparations and Engagement Party plans, our dance card has been pretty full. We did get to church on Sunday (yea!), and I somehow found time to take a young friend to see the movie Fred Claus, but beyond that, it's been All Turkey Day-Engagement Hoopla/All The Time.

Here's what I like about being back in Atlanta:

• Family and friends (of course)
• Big-ass supermarkets - oh, to have a grand Publix or Kroger in Manhattan!
• Cheap movie theaters
• All Saints' Church
• Front yards. Back yards.
• Southern stuff - like, um, food and accents

Here's what I don't like:

• Traffic (because I have to drive in it; I can't walk around it or catch the nearest subway to avoid it)
• No water (well, there is water, it's just you really are mindful of conserving it since there's a shortage)
• No Chrysler Building. No Grand Central Station. No Central Park. (And ordinarily I'd put "no Broadway," but since the stage-hands are on strike . . . )

But being home/ATL gives me a different view on life. And it's good to be here.