Friday Five: End of summer, into fall
1. The end of summer makes me feel a little bit like I'm on one of those hellishly fast-moving carnival rides that goes around and around at breakneck speed. Summer, which felt slow-moving and delicious, disappeared all too quickly. And I start to notice the days getting shorter. On the one hand, I find this incredibly depressing, the jaunt into darkness, as the leaves fall (they don't change color too much in CA) and the trees become bare, the fallow season. But I also find that fall and winter are the most creative parts of the year for me. As much as I dread the dark, bleak time, it takes me somewhere different. My writing cave takes on some new level of depth, as if I'm burrowing deeper into my own subconscious and finding new treasures to bring back up to the surface. Because the kids are in school and there's less to do outside, the cave holds my attention more completely. So while I used to literally dread the fall, I've come to appreciate it for the creativity it brings.
2. Fall is birthday season at my house. My husband's birthday is in September and both my kids' birthdays are in October. (Only mine is in winter.) I love birthdays, no I mean I really love birthdays. I get a little crazy. I just think it's this fun opportunity to celebrate the person full-on, to really let them know how special they are and how loved. Yes, of course, it's important to do that every day and all throughout the year. But birthdays, well, I guess, it's about making little dreams come true. So we do presents and parties and special dinners and decadent desserts, and fancy breakfasts, and pretty much whatever we can do to honor the dreamer in each of us. It can be a little exhausting and by the end of October, I'm glad to be done planning birthdays for a year. But at the same time, it's such fun!
3. Pretty much the second we're done with birthdays it's time for Halloween, another dreamer-oriented holiday. What can you imagine it would be fun to be? Okay, let's do it. I usually go as a witch. The idea of magic has never lost its hold over me.
4. This year I'm going to the National Council of Teachers of English conference in November. I'll be on two panels there. One on the use of dialect in YA literature and the other on the female hero's journey. I'm super excited for this opportunity, though, of course, also a little nervous. Part of my fall will be dedicated to prepping for these panels.
5. And then, Thanksgiving, which I think of as the last hoorah of autumn. It's the one holiday where my family (all five siblings and their families) come together at my mom's house to celebrate and hang out for the long weekend. It's a time of reconnecting, a time for my kids to experience where they come from and what family means to us. I love it.
So that's what my fall looks like. Not so scary really and actually sounds pretty fun. What lies ahead for you?
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