I think I'm falling in love with October.

Maybe it's the excitement and hope of Advent and Christmas...it's in the near future. It's close enough to start rehearsing Christmas music with my students, to day dream about my Christmas tree, red wreaths of berries, draping garlands and stockings around our new banister, wrapping gifts with lots of ribbon...of making new and meaningful traditions with Maya, teaching her the story and all the beauty of what it means.

I can already imagine that feeling of timelessness of sitting in my parents' house with my brothers and sisters feeling full and warm. And yet it's still distant enough that there's no sense of urgency or worry about all the holiday performances, shopping, schedules, and the worst part of all....when it's over. But that won't happen for months! It's still just October.

And I'm falling in love with October for it's own merits too. Fall has been rising on my 'favorite season' scale for the last few years. Mostly for all the sappy and predictable reasons...falling leaves, yellow sun and cold wind, sweaters, pumpkins, candles, cinnamon....
But also, by October, the school year is settling into a more comfortable, rewarding routine. I'm remembering again how deeply I love getting to know my students and to see the ways they surprise and delight me daily. I also love fall meals... the warmth and comfort of potatoes and carrots that have been cooking all day. Apple cider. And apple pie.

I even baked my first pie...ever. From scratch with fresh honey crisp apples from the farmers market. I think I'll try a pumpkin pie next.



The most recent October highlight was hours and hours with my Mandy. Maya was so excited that Mandy was coming to our house, that ever since she came...Mandy is referred to as "House."
We're still working on that.

But after Maya settled down from her marathon peek-a-boo game, her 101 stories, songs, and her impressive display of every trick she knows, she went to bed....and Mandy and I sipped coffee at Barnes & Noble, shared a hot apple dumpling with whipped cream, came back home and talked till the early morning. There really isn't another person on Earth that knows me the way she does.
She seems to 'get' me in ways that I don't even 'get' myself. And as we talk, she affirms so many things that I've been thinking and feeling...and yet she also makes me think about things in new ways too. After more than 20 years of friendship, and sharing mostly the same life-experiences and influences, she still surprises me and challenges my ways of seeing the world. Though I long to see her all the time, I'm still somehow surprised each time by how much I needed her conversation and presence. She is one of the wisest, most beautiful, fascinating people I know....she even ran a half-marathon today!
And I miss her already. Ohio seems to steal a lot of people I love.