October 2026 | Cats, Cocktails, Cryptids, and a Little Bit of Chaos
Well, HELLOOOOOOOO!
Come sit down! I’ve got STORIES!
And before anybody asks, yes, I know I’m supposed to be sitting nicely on the veranda, but I have been on a BOAT. A great big boat that went all the way across the OCEAN!
Do you have any idea how much water that is?
I looked. And looked. And looked some more.
It’s a LOT.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
The grown-up says we’re supposed to talk about October, and apparently October was a very busy month. She keeps saying things like “What a trip!” and “I’m glad to be home!” and occasionally just shaking her head and muttering something that sounds suspiciously like “Good grief.”
Personally, I think October was WONDERFUL.
Well, most of it.
There were some parts where the grown-up was not having a good time at all.
First, We Had an Adventure Nobody Ordered
We were supposed to go to Barcelona with Billie.
We were supposed to see beautiful buildings and have a lovely day exploring before getting on our ship.
The grown-up had PLANS.
She had spent eighteen months making those plans.
Apparently, nobody told the airplanes.
First, one was late. Then we missed another one. Then Billie couldn’t come with us after all, which was very sad because adventures are better when your people get to come along.
Then we spent an entire day in Madrid.
Now, Madrid is in Spain, and Spain is a place we wanted to visit, so you might think that was a good thing.
Except we were in the AIRPORT.
Airports are not nearly as interesting as the rest of Spain.
And then our luggage went missing.
The grown-up was trying very hard to be calm. She kept saying, “If that’s the worst thing today brings, we’re going to be alright.”
I think she said it approximately eleventy-seven times.
And every time she said it, something ELSE happened.
I was beginning to think maybe she should stop saying it.
But eventually, we made it to Barcelona, and then we made it onto the ship.
And that was when things started getting REALLY interesting.
The International Cat Distribution System
Did you know there are CATS in other countries?
Of course there are cats in other countries. But did you know they apparently have a system for finding us?
Because everywhere we went, there were cats.
In Morocco, there was practically a whole committee of them hanging around near a swimming pool.
They seemed to be having a meeting.
I don’t know what the meeting was about, but I suspect it involved snacks, naps, and whether the humans were properly trained.
Then in Tenerife, there was a very handsome black-and-white cat wearing a green collar, sitting above the ocean like he was in charge of the entire island.
He looked VERY important.
He also looked like he couldn’t be bothered with whatever the humans were doing.
I respect that.
The grown-up kept stopping to take pictures of cats.
Which makes perfect sense to me.
You can see famous buildings in books. You can look at pictures of volcanoes on the internet.
But when a cat decides to grace you with its presence?
You stop and appreciate the moment.
That’s just good manners.
There Were Volcanoes!
Speaking of volcanoes…
We went to Tenerife, where there is an ENORMOUS volcano.
The grown-up has seen a volcano erupt before, way up in Alaska, so she knows a thing or two about them.
I think volcanoes are fascinating.
Imagine being a mountain that occasionally gets so worked up it starts throwing hot rocks around!
I am not suggesting we should get close enough to see that happen.
I am simply saying mountains have some very interesting ways of expressing themselves.
We also visited La Laguna, which is a very old and beautiful city.
The grown-up likes history, so she was quite happy looking at buildings and learning things.
I like old places, too.
They make me wonder about all the people who have walked those streets before us.
And whether they had cats.
Probably.
We Ate Things!
Now, I would like to discuss something VERY important.
Food.
The grown-up took pictures of all kinds of things we ate and drank.
There were delicious-looking chocolate treats with colorful sprinkles and creamy filling.
One of them had so much filling it was practically escaping.
I approve of this approach to dessert.
If you’re going to put filling in something, PUT FILLING IN IT.
There were also some very fancy drinks.
Some had olives. Some were pink and sparkly. Some were served in beautiful glasses with the ocean behind them.
The grown-up seemed particularly pleased with those.
I don’t know exactly what was in all of them, but I do know that grown-ups can get very excited about beverages.
Personally, I think a good milkshake would have been an excellent addition.
But nobody asked me.
Meanwhile, Back at the Grove…
While we were sailing around the world, something very strange was happening back home.
CRYPTIDS.
Thirty-one days of cryptids!
Bigfoot, Dogman, the Jersey Devil, Nessie, sea serpents, mermaids, the Kraken, Mothman, and a whole collection of creatures that may or may not exist.
There were even HAUNTED PANTS.
HAUNTED. PANTS.
I have questions.
For example, how do pants become haunted? Do they walk around by themselves? Do they hide in closets and jump out at people? And what happens if you accidentally put them on?
The grown-up spent the month researching these creatures and deciding whether they would be welcome on the Grove porch.
Some were invited.
Some were most definitely NOT.
I think that was wise.
We have enough trouble keeping the regular visitors in line without inviting something that might eat the furniture.
Or the visitors.
Still, I rather liked the idea of all those strange creatures existing somewhere out there.
The world is a big place.
There’s room for a little mystery.
And I think the grown-up agrees, even when she insists on looking things up and checking sources.
Sometimes five-year-olds are much better at simply wondering.
The Very Best Part
Now, I want to tell you about my favorite thing.
It wasn’t the volcano.
It wasn’t the cats, although they were VERY good cats.
It wasn’t the fancy desserts or the beautiful cities or even the flying fish.
Well, the flying fish were part of it.
But my favorite thing was the hammock.
There was a hammock on our balcony, and the grown-up would climb into it and look out over the ocean.
And one evening, the sun was shining across the water, and there was a lovely breeze, and everything was just…
Perfect.
The ocean stretched out forever.
The sunlight danced on the waves.
Every now and then, a flying fish would pop out of the water and go sailing along before disappearing again.
FLYING FISH!
Fish are supposed to swim.
Nobody told these fish.
And I think that’s marvelous.
But here’s the thing about that hammock.
We weren’t thinking about the airplanes.
We weren’t thinking about the luggage or the plans that hadn’t worked out.
We weren’t thinking about what we needed to do tomorrow or what had happened yesterday.
We weren’t thinking about anything, really.
We were just there.
The sun. The water. The breeze.
And us.
I think grown-ups forget how to do that sometimes.
They spend so much time planning things and worrying about things and trying to make things happen that they forget it’s perfectly alright to just BE.
You don’t always have to be accomplishing something.
You don’t have to be learning a lesson.
You don’t even have to be making a memory.
Sometimes you can just lie in a hammock and watch the sun sparkle on the ocean.
And be happy.
I was.
Really, really happy.
And Now We’re Home
The grown-up says it’s time to settle back into reality.
I’m not entirely sure why reality can’t include hammocks and flying fish, but apparently there are bills to pay and laundry to do and other grown-up things that require attention.
The dogs were waiting for us.
The coffee is brewing.
The Grove is still here.
And now it’s Halloween!
Which means there are pumpkins and costumes and candy and all sorts of wonderful things to investigate.
Tomorrow we start a whole new adventure, learning about American history and all the things we don’t know that we don’t know.
That sounds like an excellent opportunity to ask LOTS of questions.
I’m very good at questions.
The grown-up says sometimes I’m a little TOO good at them.
I don’t think that’s possible.
But before we close the book on October, I want to tell you something.
It was a big month.
Some things went wrong. Some things went right. We saw beautiful places, met interesting people, discovered cats in unexpected places, ate delicious things, and crossed an entire ocean.
And when I think about all of it, the thing that makes me smile the biggest isn’t something grand or spectacular.
It’s a hammock.
And sunshine.
And flying fish.
Because sometimes the very best adventures are the moments when nothing much is happening at all.
So if you need me, I’ll be out here on the veranda.
Probably watching the birds.
Or looking for a cat.
Or wondering whether haunted pants have pockets.
You know.
Important things.
Love,
Vivie ❤️
Official Veranda Observer, Chief Question-Asker, and Enthusiastic Appreciator of Flying Fish
From the Grove: Vivie’s View from the Veranda is our monthly visit with the curious, mischievous five-year-old who still lives somewhere inside me. She reminds me that wonder doesn’t have an expiration date, happiness doesn’t always need a reason, and sometimes the smallest moments become the biggest treasures.
Y’all come sit a spell. There’s always room for a little wonder.
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