have a great autumn to follow the summer

(five or six years old)
peering from some high

window; at the gold

of November sunset

(and feeling: that if day
has to become night

this is a beautiful way)

My friends’ newborn baby! I listened to her heartbeat this summer while she was still in utero and finally got to put a face to the sound. She is tiny and beautiful with her Dad’s dark complexion and hair. Holding her makes time slow down and surroundings disappear and for the few short minutes that she was in my arms she was the most important thing in the world. So for as much as I wish summer could have lasted longer, I’m glad autumn took its turn and made meeting my new baby friend possible.

“Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer….Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”

“To be interested in the changing seasons is…a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.”

Done so far: Had a really great visit with my brother in October. Enjoyed a yummy Thanksgiving dinner (not sure why Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in Oct, Americans in Nov). Tasted honey I got at the Farmers’ Market (thank God for bees!). Tried to bake apples but failed (I’m still trying to soak the burnt butter and sugar off the bottom of the pan). Put together a large Halloween package for my nephew.

Currently: listening to more music than usual, laughing along to comedy CD’s, and reading voraciously.

Yet to do: Will meet my friends’ newborn baby this weekend; taste a soup I’ve never tried (summer squash); write in my beautiful fall journal; simmer spices and orange peels on the stove; and dye my hair Sangria!

arrives this weekend for a visit. Family dinner scheduled for Sunday. Have ornamental gourds to make a table centrepiece with.

in a row. Beat the blahs by pulling out my mini-fireplace/heater to stay warm. Cooked French onion soup today, baked bread 2 days ago! (well, I “cooked” the partially baked bread from the bakery that you heat and eat at home which means that you get the yummy smells and warm up the house as well as the warm bread!) Am determined to hold out on firing up the furnace as long as possible so cooking does double duty. However, with snow flurries forecast for this weekend (Canadian Thanksgiving), I may have to turn on the furnace!

I’ve been driving around this week really noticing the bursts of colorful leaves all around the city. The effect of sunlight shining through leaves is really spectacular. The huge old trees in the really old neighborhoods are amazing, they look like pillar candles glowing from the inside out. As I was watching sun in the leaves this morning, I found myself saying out loud, “This is feeding me, this is keeping me alive.” It was such a profound experience and hard to explain but it really felt like I was so connected that I was photosynthesizing…that I was actually being nourished by the light and the colors. I know, I know…time to cut back on the meds!

Spent some time on a bench there this morning, just soaking in the last burst of summery temperatures. Picked a bunch of leaves from every color of the spectrum. Watched Canada geese swimming, they even seem to swim in a V-formation! It’s hard not to laugh when I listen to them honking. Took so many pictures of leaves, berries, weeds (yes, weeds can be pretty), trees. I picked a bunch of wild sage and it’s scent is filling my front room.

It’s an old treat from when I was a kid. Cover a piece of bread with mustard, ketchup and brown beans, then roast in the oven. Some people are horrified at the idea but to me it’s the perfect cool weather supper. Easy to prepare plus it’s loaded with protein.