Here are Some Brave Men

SWIMMING in the Puget Sound this past summer. . .rather chilly-o.

Here at home: chocolate cake, banana bread, tea on its way. Yes, FINALLY it's cool enough to turn on the oven. And I'm SO very glad it's Friday. What a long week it's been. There's rain, which makes me feel cozy and brings back days in Kenya during the rainy season. Makes me long for Fall, which may be foolish since that season is a brief pleasure before winter buckles us into our sweaters. But I love autumn; I love what happens to the garden; I love the way everything ripens and deepens and begins to glow around us. I love the cozy nights and warm nightgowns on the girls and feeling good putting my feet in socks and slippers. I love brown sweaters and gentle rain and the nutty smell of the earth and the way it softens under my tread before freezing.

This will be a different sort of Fall, since it sees Merry go off to the public school for second grade, sees Elspeth start preschool, and me working part-time and attending a class. Yes! Yes! Yes!