The (Blustery) First Day of Fall

Fall swept in during the night with a vengeful air – I suppose that’s understandable given how Summer usually garners more attention and anticipation (excluding those folks who pine away for pumpkin flavored everything). The temperatures dropped and my garden wears a bedraggled, puzzled air.  It’s probably feeling spiteful as well, given how I have ignored it for the past month. My attention has been diverted away from my blog as well – it’s been over a month since I wrote a post. This stems not from a lack of desire or thought, but merely that the writing bug bites me during the exact same hours I must labor for my real job.

Although my garden (other than our pumpkin and gourd patch) languishes with the end of summer weariness and weediness, our house looks better than she has in years. Peeling paint around the exterior of our windows (and the threat of lead exposure) is gone, and the trim is a dark green color that looks brilliant against the white siding. (Vinyl siding, which tears at my soul, but we don’t have the money to take it off now and…deal with more lead paint.)

The most exciting part of the work on the house? The magical journey our 1960s aluminum storm door took from a harsh metallic color to the same shade of green as the trim! I long for a wooden storm door, but that’s way down the list of items to be addressed. (That whole available funds thing again.)

I’ve traveled quite a bit in the last month, and had to say goodbye to a beloved canine companion. There’s been one quarantine stay-at-home week for one of my tiny people, and a job change for my long-suffering husband. Life moves and bends at a dizzy pace, and I veer back and forth between delight at the wonder of the very young, and the acute pain of watching age diminish the strength of those most important to me. At those times, I feel like a child again, and wish someone would tell me what to do and what is the right thing to do.

Writing always helps, even if it is a short exercise accompanied by no research, academic musings, or exploration of ridiculous architectural terminology. Happy Fall to you all!