Three Beautiful Things 10/17/15: Miracle at the Big House, Hiking the Appalachian Trail, Diner and Dive Bar

1.  So.  The Deke, Jack, Adrienne and I are over at Alex's house (the manse) and Alex is a die hard Wolverine fan and it was almost time to leave to go across the street to the church to rejoin the Oktoberfest activities and the end of the Michigan/Michigan State football game was on and, asked to leave, I said, yes, I said these exact words, "Wait a just a minute. Let's watch the end of the game in case a miracle happens."  Then, and it was a total gut shot of absolute pain for Alex, Michigan State's miracle victory happened.

2.  On Friday, Adrienne and Alex told the rest of us at Growler and Gill that they had been on a hike that day on the Appalachian Trail.  I didn't even know that there were entries to the trail fairly close to Nyack and I had never before that moment ever thought I'd like to hike on the Appalachian Trail, but I seized the opportunity to go take a hike today on the Appalachian Trail near Greenwood Lake. The trail was rocky, the trail's white blazes were very well placed, keeping me on course, and the whole forest was ablaze with the green, gold, yellow, red, and vermilion of leaves turning and others not.

3.  Along with going to my first ever Oktoberfest at Monroe, New York's First Presbyterian Church, I also did two of my favorite things.  First, I ate at a rural diner in Tuxedo, NY where I enjoyed an early afternoon corned beef hash breakfast at the Orange Top. Second, I went to a scroungy dive bar in Monroe, NY, the Brazen Head Pub. The place smelled like a sewer, but the beer was cold and the three drunk women on one end of the bar and the angry Jets fan on the end I sat at left me alone to gather my thoughts, reflect on my day, and pass the time before meeting the rest of the family at Oktoberfest. (By the way, I would return to the Orange Top Diner, but I might look for a different watering hole, if need be, in Monroe.)