October, not Christmas, is the most wonderful time of the year

Orange trees are the best. When I eventually have a yard, I want to plant lots of trees that turn orange in fall (Tammy, start researching). The yellow and red ones aren't bad, but seeing as how orange is my favorite color, that's what I want.

October is my favorite month because it's predominately orange and black. And, there's such a wide variety of weather. Earlier this week it was in the 70s and today was full of ominous, dramatic clouds and cold wind.

I thought you might like to see what my commute home has been while I am in St. Louis. I purposely drive home through Kirkwood because it is someplace I would like to live someday. I don't know why I've always been obsessed with Kirkwood. I hated playing them in softball because the girls were mean and their mascot is a Pioneer. Really? Yes.

But, the majority of Kirkwood is historic and so many of the homes have huge yards with huge old-growth trees. It's just beautiful.

I'm only on an actual highway (Hwy 40) for a few miles before exiting at Lindbergh. This is part of Lindbergh through Frontenac.


Rather than taking Lindbergh (aka Kirkwood Rd.) through downtown historic Kirkwood, I head over to S. Woodlawn. Downtown Kirkwood is quaint, but there are a lot of stop lights that make the commute less fun. Woodlawn goes by some of my favorite homes.


This craftsman style home just popped up recently. A lot of smaller older homes have sold been torn down and turned into fantastic places like this.

I didn't get a good shot at this house, but I love the yard.

This is the big orange tree on the corner.

Now this has always been my favorite... 503 Monroe. It's called the Judge Enos Clarke home or Seven Gables as a nickname. It was built around 1913 and is a Tudor Revival style sitting on a full acre corner lot. My Dad always said that if I ever got to see the old-style basement that is likely in this house, I would never go back in. But I don't care, I love it.

This is the side view:

This is the front view:

Here's another home in the same neighborhood:

This new home on Scott Ave. is craftsman style.


This victorian home was built about 8 years ago.


This is looking down Monroe Ave. The street is flanked by huge homes with massive yards.

This house we used to call the "Addams Family" home before new owners removed a lot of the trees and updated the house. They added a four-car garage and huge living space in the back including a tennis court. This lot is the width of the entire block.

This photos is looking down Monroe towards Holmes Ave.


Now these new craftsman homes are really close to my neighborhood. There used to be woods here, but they cleared it out and built these. It's my understanding that the residents of the neighborhood are not too happy.


Road headed towards my house.



Home! Now I gotta clean up all those leaves!

All the leaves are brown...and the sky is grey

I've been uploading photos to my new computer and I was reminiscing through some photos from Thanksgiving last year. Fall is my favorite season. I can't wait until my trip to St. Louis in November... only 29 days till I get there! The weather will actually feel like fall, rather than the freaking hot weather we've been having here! Plus, we're going to celebrate Tricia's 30th b-day!