“To tell the story of one’s own life is to change that life, as telling is an action that can revise one’s relationship to the past.”
~Tiya Miles, All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake
Wow, October was apparently a month of mostly books, knitting, and walks in the neighborhood. I also remember a lot of rain, but these photos remind me that we also had days full of blue skies. We stayed close to home this month. I do have a regular Monday lunch date at my mom’s (which I need to document), and I’m back at church on Sunday mornings, but otherwise, family gatherings at my sister’s on Sunday the 10th (that’s the lovely cream and pink camellia bush in her front yard) and at Katie’s on Saturday the 23rd (that’s Marc’s nephew’s new wife aka “Sam’s new girlfriend) were about it.
A Gratitude List: sleeping with the windows open, the constancy of the seasons, seeing new things even when I walk the same paths, family who are friends, the internet.
Life Draining: feeling stuck.
Life Giving: and finally realizing I could reframe that as “taking a pause” which helped immensely, dark early quiet time.
A (short) Happy List:
- An FO photoshoot with Katie.
- Listening to Sara and Marc watch VEEP. She’s seen seasons 1-5 and wanted to re-watch before she watches the last two seasons; Marc hadn’t seen any of it. It’s pretty much non-stop laugher and chatter. I plan to join them for seasons 6 & 7 (likely as soon as the World Series is over – hopefully tonight!)
- Photographing camellia blooms (see below) in so many colors and so many places.
Not all of these blooms made the daily photo grid, and even those that did deserve a bigger format!
What made your Happy List last month?
mere-et-filles 
watching fall roll in was my favorite part of October that and loving my wooly knitting and wearing jeans daily again. So many good things.
The top of my list is a trip to Michigan that actually happened! Dinner with family almost every night while we were there. A trip to the pumpkin patch to help Vivi pick out a pumpkin or two. And even some time to visit some of our favorite places while Heidi was working and Vivi was at school!
The remainder of the month seems a bit of a blur as I began The Great Advent Calendar Project! lol
At the top of my list was having Ryan here for his birthday for the first time in eight years, and cooking his birthday dinner together with him. There is also that lovely crisp feel in the air (when John hasn’t got the heat cranked up way too high). Those camellias are so pretty!
The colors in your photos are very happy! On my happy list – good books, family pizza night, a finished sweater, coffee with a friend.
I feel like October went by in a blur but the highlights for me, as always, was spending time with my family – especially Jackie!
Those flowers! It’s so nice to see some color still blooming. I have enjoyed getting out and seeing the leaves finally changing color; they were slow to get started, or so it seems, and then we had that period of rain that seemed endless and that kept me from looking up when I was out. It felt like a long and exhausting month that simultaneously flew by. I am hoping that November slows its roll a bit, and with Thanksgiving coming, I’m trying to focus more on gratitude.
Hmm…fun question. I think celebrating our anniversary with a weekday lunch at our new favorite restaurant in town was absolutely delightful. (Especially since we were one of 4 tables seated indoors and we had a whole quadrant of the place to ourselves!) It’s a place with a coastal vibe…lovely light, soothing color palette, an all around outstanding job they did. With great food + drinks to boot. It was a true getaway 2 blocks from home.
And I hear you on the ‘drain’ of stuckness. While I’ve been in a strange space for a bit, I’m slowly getting to a better place WITHIN it–and that’s actually nudged me toward my word for next year. I think.
xo
October this year was bittersweet. My brother’s memorial service brought far flung family together but . . . The red/orange maples in our neighborhood and a trip to Fort Worth were the highlights.
Love all the photos of the flora that represents the changing season. It’s a small thing, but watching my Mom eat a huge brunch after having no appetite for many months was so great. Also, making the long talked about chair purchase that has already been delivered. I looked up at the very tall salesman and told him he had 20 minutes to show and sell us what we were looking for, and he delivered the goods FTW!
Thank you for showing us the beautiful blossoms! We have only asters, but the leaves are pretty showy. For being a long month, October seemed to go by quickly. October is top of my favorites for months of the year as I love the colors, the mild (most years) weather, the blue sky days mixed with rainy days here and there, the breezes and the coziness. October is a nice way to introduce us to the colder days of the winter ahead.