hello september – Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs..

It’s September! The first of the “ber” months, my favorite months of the year (except for March, Wyatt’s birth month)

September is fall to me. Back to school, fall clothes, comfort meals, cozy mornings and evenings, jeans and sweaters and boots, leaves crunching under foot, cooler nights, crisp air that makes me feel more alive, bonfires, cider… so many good things!

Except..it is not these things immediately, at least not here in Michigan. We are still in shorts, eating our warm weather meals of salads and tomato cheese sandwiches and hamburgers (I love hamburgers, not going to lie), but some things are beginning to seem more like fall. The nights have been cooler, and we are going back to school, so two things on my list! I will take it as a start!

I saw a reel I saw this morning about how in the 90s we would all truck off to school on the first day in boots and jeans and giant sweaters, because they were our “new back to school” clothes and we would all just die and sweat all day from the heat. It made me laugh because I definitely remember doing that!

I love fall and how as nature starts to slow down and rest, we do too. The days are getting shorter, the darkness settles in much earlier, almost whispering to us to settle in as well. To find that cozy blanket and book, and relax and not run around trying to get everything done until you fall exhausted into bed. It’s our reminder that we need to restore ourselves as well. To fill back up after a long summer of doing and going. To play that autumn playlist full of rich songs while we make a flavorful soup or homemade bread on a weekend morning, to indulge in mugs of hot drinks that warm us body and soul, to hole up for a few hours on the couch surrounded by our little comfort piles. It’s time to dim those lights in the evening, and leave the harsh glow of the day behind. To take walks in the crisp air, crunching leaves underfoot, never minding the soft rain that may fall on you. To have warm apple pie for breakfast one day, just for fun.

My squirrel friends have been visiting more often these days, looking for the treats I leave them outside. I watch them eat some, then scurry off with other bits, stashing it somewhere only they know where. Sometimes we have an opossum friend too, who visits wanting apples. Over the summer mama possum was hanging out in our yard with her babies, and while I know they wouldn’t all stay I wish they could have. Like Jerome Kildee is Kildee House (a kids book I read for the first time this year and I wish everyone would read), I would share my space with all the little animals too. Although maybe not in my house. Outside is fine.

We are slowing down, and I try to remember that when making plans for the fall. I want to do so much too, to take Wyatt to all the festivals and camping and Halloween events, but I am mindful to not do too much. I try to pick and choose carefully, to make space between the events for slow days too. Enough to enjoy but not so much as to overwhelm, where everything runs into another thing and dulls the excitement and joy. We are taking a short trip to Cuyahoga Valley National Park this fall, and riding the train which I think will be a lot of fun. Wyatt loves trains and this will be his longest train ride to date – plus I bought tickets for the train car that has a glass ceiling so that we can get huge views of the outdoors as well. I have a few other things planned as well, but also plan to spend some fun days here too, at home.

I made a little graphic to frame and put on my desk, to remind myself to slow down and rest this season. I will link it here in case you want to print it out too, or just save it to your phone or computer.

treat-yourself-slow-down (1)Download

I hope that you all enjoy fall (or spring if you are in the southern hemisphere!) and do some things that are restful for your soul.

Before we move on to September, I want to talk about this guy, my Marlow Meepers. I had to say goodbye to him this week, the last day of August, and I’m not going to lie, it was hard and it was awful and I miss his face and his cuddles and soft soft fur. But he was not doing well, and at 18, there really wasn’t going to be much we could do for him. So we made the very hard decision to let him go, as we knew he was suffering. He was diminished in size, his fur was no longer shiny, he had lost his shine, his vibrance, and spent all night every night just crying. He came to shelter I volunteered at when he was a few years old, after having been abandoned in an apartment when his owners just left him there when they moved. My brother-in-law actually adopted him, but was stationed overseas for a long stint and wasn’t sure when he was coming back – so Marlow came to us. By the time my brother-in-law returned, Marlow was mine. He had attached to me and it was obvious I was his person and he was my cat. He was a shy, hidey cat for a long time, but eventually became our most bold and bossy. My favorite Marlow story: Years ago before Wyatt, Billy was on a camping trip for the weekend. It was late and I was reading on the couch, drinking a glass of wine, Marlow laying next to me. All of a sudden we heard a scuffing noise outside, and we both sort of sat up straighter – and Marlow started growling like he was some sort of fierce guard dog. I got up and made sure the door was locked and flipped on the outside lights, and ran back to my cat. Nothing happened thank goodness, but I thought it was so funny and cute that apparently Marlow was going to fight to protect me. After Wyatt was born, he was always by Wyatt’s side, and so very patient with him. We miss him so much.

So we start September with heavy hearts this year, and we will let that grief settle, as summer will soon settle into fall. The leaves here are already changing, the evenings are cooler, and autumn is on the way. I love this season so much, the slow down we always experience and embrace. Quiet nights around a crackling fire, school starting up again, comfort food, warm tea in sturdy mugs, reading books under soft cozy quilts, and of course spooky season!

We will be laying low and sticking close to home this September, finding our new rhythm. Hiking in the woods with crunchy leaves, spotting mushrooms, collecting acorns and and black walnuts and chestnuts, putting the garden to bed. The month of the full harvest moon, the autumn equinox. The monarchs that are born now are the super monarchs that will be making the long journey south to Texas and Mexico. Life changes this time of year, shifts, adjusts, and we change and shift and adjust as well. Sometimes we say hello, and sometimes we have to say goodbye.