Autumn

Last autumn I was so busy apartment-hunting and then finally moving in, while at the same time getting settled into my new job, that I didn't have time to do anything autumn-y except go to the State Fair. This year I've got a vase of goldenrods sitting on my table with my pinecone candleholders, a weekend camping trip to the mountains planned, and a host of fall recipes waiting to be cooked. I want to savor this season before it slips away from me like I let happen last year.

Not that I don't have a lot going on, though. You've probably all heard how wretchedly busy I am this semester. I'm teaching four separate classes at the Literacy Council, plus my usual Wake Tech night class, all twice a week. Add to this the weekly updates I'm doing for the Wake Tech EL/Civics blog (two posts a week) and the mentoring I'm doing for a promising ESL student-teacher, and I've got something like a 60-hour work week facing me until Christmas. Throw in the 9-week Financial Peace class I'm taking at church every Wednesday night, and it's no wonder my friends complain that they never see me. It's stressful and tiring, but it has taught me how to be organized and manage my time. Ha! One of these days life will slow down . . . but until then, I have to relish these pockets of beauty and quiet when I can.

I love the fall, love the leaves turning colors, love the harvest food at the farmers market, love the big blue afternoon skies, the late afternoon sun going down that always reminds me of reading "Three Dreams and a Nightmare" outside in the field behind my house, wrapped up in a blanket on the ground until it got too dark to see. I'll miss the warmth of summer, but always welcome the nostalgic homeyness of fall.

"O suns and skies and clouds of June
And flowers of June together
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October's bright blue weather."

--Helen Hunt Jackson, 1831-1885