1. I’m soooooo grateful for the librarian who decided not to reshelve my book that was on hold yesterday. I called and asked if they’d leave it, even though I forgot to pick it up, and they will! Otherwise, I’d have to go back on the hold list, and there would be 295 people ahead of me.
2. I’m grateful for the wonderful weather. I adore this time of year.
3. I’m happy that we have orange roses today.
My backyard
Sometimes it can be hard to notice the seasons changing in AZ because they don’t change all that drastically. The leaves don’t turn and the air doesn’t get cool and crisp in the daytime. At most, I might need long pants after dark, but even that’s optional.
Our days are still in the 80s, and it feels hotter in the sun. Still, October means Halloween, and the nights are a welcome reprieve from the heat. It takes me most of October to catch up to the fact that it is October, which is a shame, as it’s my favorite time of year. I love all things Halloween.
Fall means moving from watermelons to peas, zucchini to butternut squash. It means I don’t have to quite as vigilant about watering my plants, and I can go outside without taking special precautions to drink enough water or making sure I take breaks every 15-20 minutes in the middle of the day.
One of my favorite fall memories was from when I was 10 years old. I’d just spent part of the day raking leaves, and we had gone to the shelter to get a dog, Charlie. He was a black lab. When we brought him home that first day, we both jumped into the leaves, undid all my hard work, and had a great time.
The only bad thing about October is that it’s only a month long. 😦
September 23 is the fall equinox this year. That’s the day when the sun is on the same plane as the Earth’s equator, and night and day have about equal lengths. For most of us, that means the official start of autumn. Not everyone will be welcoming autumn. Although it’s a pretty time of year, in much of the world it signals the coming of cool, crisp nights, frosted windshields, and raking leaves. Apple cider, pumpkins, and pumpkin spice lattes.
The ancient Celts used to “sacrifice” a large wicker figure that symbolized vegetation. A “goodbye to summer” sort of thing. These days, the Burning Man festival is based on that ancient tradition. Burning Man does occur earlier than the actual equinox, and takes place at the end of August/ beginning of September. http://www.burningman.com/
In Neopagan culture, the equinox symbolizes the time when the Goddess passes from Mother to Crone. It’s a time for finishing up old business for the year and settling in for rest and reflection. Probably the only people who pay attention to the equinox, other than Neopagans, are Astronomers and Astrologers.
I love this time of year, and I miss the cold. This fall, I’m planning to go back to Pennsylvania for a week so that I can enjoy October the way it’s meant to be. Not that I’m complaining about Arizona, because I love it here. It’s just that I miss the cold, and the leaves turning. I miss seeing my breath, wearing gloves, and drinking hot chocolate to warm me up.
Doree Weller 