First Fall Week-end

A week from today it will be October--actually, a week from yesterday it will be October.  I feel like I have lost the month of September, and in many ways, I have.  I am also missing the more traditional elements of autumn:  a chill in the air, a trip to a pumpkin patch or an apple orchard, a occasion to wear a cozy sweater.

Yesterday, the neighbor's bottlebrush tree mocked my desire for fall.  We heard a crack, and a quarter of the tree fell on the car and the motorcycle.  I want autumnal elements, not a literal fall.  Luckily, my spouse and I were able to back the car out of the driveway (me), while lowering the chunk of tree (spouse).

I'll go back to appreciating the gumbo limbo leaves drifting by--while trying not to worry that it means that the trees have suffered damage.

But let me also remember the times that I spent with friends, times I might not have had if we hadn't had the hurricane disrupt the month:

--we evacuated to the house of friends further inland.  We helped them finish securing their house, and we had plenty of time to sit and play cards, to work on some sewing projects, to cook together.

--One set of neighborhood friends invited us over for a meal that I'd traditionally expect on New Year's Day:  beans, cornbread, and greens.  It felt appropriate for the week where the hurricane wasn't as bad as we feared.

--The next night, another set of friends had us over for taco salad. 

--We had another Saturday dinner at the evacuation house, but this time, with more friends, since the storm had passed.  We compared notes, and I loved the story of the woman who decided to use the downtime to sort through stuff in a shed, only to discover that she had a generator that she didn't know she had.

Now that we have power restored, we won't all see each other as much.  We must get caught up on various tasks of restoration and catching up with our clients and classes.

I spent much of yesterday catching up on the recent Vietnam documentary.  On Thursday, it was downright jarring to turn on the evening news to hear about the latest Korea developments, and then switching to an old MASH episode before switching to the Vietnam documentary.

Yesterday, we took a break and walked to the marina.  It was a sobering reminder that we had indeed endured a big storm:  there are still several boats that are partially sunk at the far end of North Lake.

And yet, there was also the boat that came by blaring John Denver's "Country Roads."  We don't hear much John Denver drifting across the Intracoastal.  We smiled and sang along.

This morning I will skip spin class one more time in the interest of getting some of my grading done.  Maybe by the end of the week, I will feel more like myself.  Maybe I will be ready to greet October.