My Favorite Time of Year

Autumn is in full swing, and I can't tell you how happy that makes me. And also a little bit confused, as we turned our clocks back and now find it getting dark at 4:30pm. On Friday, after Teddy's birthday party was over and friends had departed, I got to work on making cookies for a potluck we were attending Saturday night, and I thought I was terribly behind. Finding the kitchen quite dim, I entered into a light state of panic, thinking it was surely time to make dinner already. Then I looked at the clock, and it said 16:33. I wasn't behind at all, possibly even a bit ahead of schedule.

Anyway.

I am really loving wearing a jacket every time I leave the house, and I adore that everyone is naturally sleeping a bit later, then wanting to get cozy on the sofa as dark descends in the afternoon. This is the balance to those bright days in which everyone wakes early and runs riot in the playground. Spring and summer have their own delights, but autumn is quiet and soft and altogether lovely. The leaves crunch beneath our feet as we walk home from evening classes and lessons, and our porch light beckons to us, "Come in! It's warm inside!" Is there anything better than feeling a bit of a chill and walking into a warm house? I'm not sure there is.

Here, the shops are already fully given over to Christmas. We might give Thanksgiving a cursory nod, but each year the children get a little less excited by the prospect of turkey and homemade cranberry sauce, and I won't be sad if we let the holiday go altogether. There is still plenty of room for gratitude in a season that brings us vibrant colors and allows us to sip hot chocolate without sweating at the same time. I am thankful for that, among other things.

Mostly, I am thankful to have passed this year and made it through on the other side. A year ago we had to cancel a trip we very much wanted to make to where are our girls are from. We hastily planned a trip to the USA in order to make good use of the time J already had off work. Our time there was good and productive, but it was very much a working sort of trip, with lots of tasks to check off our list. We rescheduled the trip we were meant to make in November for April, and that undertaking was daunting to say the least. I am still proud of all four of us for what we accomplished then, making connections that needed to be made and somehow staying the course when we really didn't feel like it.

And then Z went to camp, and we moved house, and we went on a trip that was supposed to be relaxing but included an ambulance ride for E and a restriction on water play - not exactly convenient for a beach holiday. At this point, we are all happy to be home, to have a normal schedule, to enjoy this season. We may not celebrate Thanksgiving, but we sure are thankful.