Darlings,

At last, glorious October. It's quite possibly my favorite month, whether I'm in Santa Fe, Rome, Athens, or Kansas City. (Kansas City! Pooches, you may not believe this, but KC has a plaza that rivals our own. A very funny coincidence is that the Kansas City Plaza was designed by the grandfather of one of our local Realtors, Wayne Nichols — many years after Santa Fe's Plaza came into existence, of course, because Wayne isn't all that old.)

Fall is generally a good time for Realtors to assess their goals, and in doing so, decide where they want to spend the winter. Kittens, I don't mean Florida, although it would be kind of fun to go down there this year and buy a $300K property for about $50,000. That's exactly what Paul Duran (formerly Sotheby's) was tossing around in his mind when he came to his senses and simply moved to Santa Fe Realty Partners for a change of scenery. After 20+ years in the same "home" (he started at French & French way back before it merged with Sotheby's), Paul decided to pursue the development of SFRP's new commercial real estate division with Darlene Streit and Tommy Gardner (owners of SFRP).

Here's what Paul himself has to say about this: "It wasn't easy leaving longtime friends and business associates but I recognized an opportunity (Cupcakes, that is soooo Paul) and I decided to pursue it." He'll divide his time between commercial and residential sales. And in between, I have a feeling he'll be finding time to run for county commissioner. Here's another thing he told me: "The clouds seem to be getting darker on the horizon, and I believe I bring a new and fresh approach to our community's desire for smart growth." Again, Sweethearts, I must say, that is soooo Paul. He has my vote. (I am simply a madwoman for fresh and smart.)

Many of Santa Fe's Realtors are like Paul in that they have our community's best interests at heart. (No, Virginia, it's not all about the commission). Sedena Cappannelli (a "green certified" Realtor with Santa Fe Properties) and her husband, George (both are consultants, national speakers, personal coaches, and authors) just recently launched AgeNation and Empower New Mexico with a fundraiser at Santa Fe Opera on Sept. 4. Doll Babies, surely you attended. Roberta Flack and her 16-piece orchestra and Shawn Colvin and her guitar gave knockout performances to a full house. What a launch.

The Cappannellis are co-founders of AgeNation, a digital media company dedicated to encouraging a lifestyle revolution that redefines what it means to live consciously and age wisely in the 21st century. (Sugars, I know you think I'm brilliant, but I must confess that I'm repeating what Sedena told me.) Because of this philosophy, AgeNation wants to support those charities that support the philosophy. Which means that the nonprofit organizations chosen to receive moneys from the evening's event (called "A Musical Celebration Across Generations") were the Alzheimer's Assoc.; Open Hands; Amber Care; and Empower New Mexico (a newly formed nonprofit closely aligned with - but distinct from - AgeNation).

You're probably asking yourself, How does Sedena have time to do all these things, plus sell real estate? Honestly, Pumpkins, I don't know. (Maybe it's good that the market is a little slow right now.) I'm thinking that living consciously and aging wisely allows you to get more things accomplished than when you're running around clueless and aging senselessly. But here's why the Cappannellis are so committed to this cause. They know that by 2010 the demographic revolution will be here, when more than 50 percent of our population will be over 50 for the first time in history.

At any rate, if you missed "A Musical Celebration Across Generations," you'll have a chance to attend AgeNation's conference at the Albuquerque Convention Center in November: two days of motivational speakers talking about living your best life now, with special appearances by Mitch Albom and Maya Angelou.

Angel Cakes, why am I so interested in AgeNation? Because I'm ahead of the 2010 revolution - I'm already over 50. In fact, the latest aging-wisely decision I made was to have a knee replacement on Sept. 3, which is why I missed seeing Roberta and Shawn in person. (Or would it be in persons?) The reason it was a wise decision is because having a painful operation like that is a real attention-getter (and, Possums, that's what my life is all about).

People send cards via snail mail, so it helps keep our faithful post office viable. It encourages other people with knees wrecked from too much hiking, aerobics, skiing, line dancing, and general abuse to take the plunge and do it now rather than later so their best years of activity lie (maybe I should say jump) ahead of them. And people who don't even like to cook break down and bring you delicious meals.

However, one of the major highlights for me was having one of my dearest friends, Diane Pick, drop everything and spend my first week home from the hospital with me. We hadn't had that much quality time since we traveled to England several years ago. Kiddos, she didn't mind leaving her husband, Sam (Santa Fe's favorite — at least my favorite — mayor of all time) to fend for himself (puh-lease, don't tell him that) nearly as much as she hated leaving her grandchildren, Harrison and Hannah, to grow and change one whole week without her observing these minute transformations. (Their parents, Jason Trainor and Robyn Benson were thoughtful enough to take pictures.)

So long, Sweetpeas. Until next time... Oakley

(Editor's note: Oakley Talbott moonlights as Realtor, Merrily Pierson, and can be reached at merrilypierson@cox.net)