Of things October

This morning was on the dark and grey side, as so many of these days in October have been recently. I was settled on the couch, nursing and cuddling my adorable baby (see exhibit A). I helped myself to some chai and cornbread muffins smeared with homemade apple butter. The day seemed predictable, rain, cold and indoor chores.

Exhibit A

Then.

This happened:

Which drew us out of doors post-haste.

Like being pregnant again, but this time, with a second head

We enjoyed beautiful sights and colours and breathed deeply the crisp air with scents of spices and woodfires on the breeze.

 Constance soon fell asleep, the lull of being walked up and down the street and the warmth of being wrapped close to her mama was an undeniable sleep inducer.

The beautiful day reminded me of just such beautiful, clear, cold days from the year past. And as in years past, at this time, when the world is cooling down and people are bundling up....

 This time when apples and pumpkins are ubiquitous and holidays celebrating such things draw near and people get friendly...and throw parties...

Well, this time of year is also the time of year where certain people.... the insane and masochistic type, like to write...and not just write, but I mean write.  As in writing 50,000 words in one month, kind of write.

Yes.

 It is that time of year again. And it got me thinking....

Exhibit B

I should do it. Again. If you do not know what I am talking about, I will tell you:

Exhibit C

November = National Novel Writing Month. Nanowrimo for short. (See Nanowrimo.com). Which means October is crunch month. "Crunch month" = run around like a madman figuring out what story you want to write and wondering what you'll do with your life for the next couple weeks while you wait for 12:00am 11/1/2012. Well, maybe some people do. But I'm going to wing it this year....

See, I had originally thought I'd skip this year, because I have this great excuse. (See exhibit B and C) but that walk today, and the cool weather and the inspirational smells and sights...well I just can't! I can't bear to let November go by without joining the ranks of insane and attempting to write a novel in a month. It's just too much fun! Even when it's stressful and crazy, because it's awesome too. And so, I'm dedicated. I'm going to go sign into Nanowrimo RIGHT NOW... Done. Check me out if you want, my Nano ID is EkkThe5ifth.

So besides that, there's a lot of other exciting things. Things like beautiful babies and pumpkins....

...and apples...

And apples.

And apples.

And apples....

oh, did I mention apples? John has been picking up all the dropped apples he's been finding on his rounds at work. He drives around a lot and this IS apple season. So, since we've had quite the abundance I got busy and made:

 Apple butter! NOMS.
 Which brings us back to the beginning where I was lounging around snuggling with my little button. And considering indoor chores. Of which I have many still to do.

Sporting mama-made autumnal headgear

the end

A little snow for your October?

Thursday was a cold rainy day. Our coldest day of the season with no doubt. I felt sad for my husband who had to be out in it working. (He has a driving around and being outside sort of job) When he got home I made him some spicy hot cocoa to warm him up. Our fall has been on the milder side of weather so far. There have been very few days where I actually felt a need to wear a scarf. It made me happy to feel it cooling off. But  as the sun set and it started getting even more cold, something weird happened.

The rain started getting slushy. And then it started getting floaty and on the drier side...

Wait a second! This is SNOW. It's only October! What about autumn! The leaves haven't fallen yet! Some of our leaves are still green!   We want brisk days not frozen days. Heh.
It was magical, though. The first snow always is....

 Actually every time it snows it's magical. Do you ever just stand in it and listen to it hit the ground? And watch it turn the world white and clean?
You should.

The next morning we had a thin layer. Not a lot. I hear some areas got a few inches. We had enough to make scraping the windshield necessary and to turn the grass white. Bits of icy snow clumps clung to leaves causing them to sparkle in the morning sunshine. And then they started melting and falling and caused a bit of ruckus. You didn't want to be standing underneath a tree! And when the sun really got high it sounded like the first thaw, that musical drip-drip-dripping of snow really melting. Lovely.

I hear we're supposed to get a few more inches tonight.

Anyone dreaming of a white Halloween?