fall equinox

Yesterday was fall equinox; and it definitely feels like fall here now. All of a sudden. Since we arrived here in Northfield on Sept. 1, we've enjoyed late summer time weather, sunshine, blue sky, balmy temperatures. I've been wearing short skirts and tank tops, Lilly's been in T-shirts and shorts, we've played in the baby pool, outside around the house, enjoyed on our porch. Then all of a sudden it got cooler, darker skies, shorter days, the evenings, nights and mornings feel almost chilly, the last couple of days I've worn jeans. When I walked home from the library the other day, fallen leaves were spinning in the air, blown around by the wind. I like fall too. Every season has its charm. We're still out on the porch at night, right now, it's a little after nine, Lilly's asleep, we're sipping this fall's first Oktoberfest, made by Surly Brewing Company, one of our favorite microbreweries (we prefer the Surly Furious, it's super hoppy and kind of flowery. But the Oktoberfest is a nice treat, dark and kind of nutty).

Yesterday also marks three weeks since we arrived and two weeks since we started taking turns working and being with Lilly. It was hard to get into the swing of things at first, a new routine, the writing mode. But now I'm really enjoying it. The time, either with Lilly or at the library, writing, editing, it goes by in a swish! Unfortunately, getting into the writing mode for me also means that my shoulders tense up, I get so darned caught up in the process, and so all of me becomes this bundle of concentrated energy. And then it starts to hurt. This afternoon when I was writing (while Lilly was napping), my shoulders hurt so bad I could tell my irritability was quickly rising.

But then I got to go to yoga this afternoon, after an early dinner. It felt so good, I almost cried. Yoga is like giving your own body a good massage, at least for me it is. I'm so grateful we're both getting to practice now. Leighton goes Monday night, then I go on Wednesdays, as well as Saturday morning. There's also a class Thursday night Leighton can go to. And Tuesday nights, I get to walk with Dee, witnessing and being with the changes that surround us, that we're in.

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Lilly update: wants to do all we do, from eating what we eat (including my pita sandwich this afternoon, with goat milk yoghurt, turkey, cheese, grapes, and mustard. Another favorite is parmesan cheese; she likes it more than the noodles we dust it on. She also wants our coffees and my tea; I gave her a tea spoon taste today, she kept wanting more...), to unlocking doors with our keys, reading her new book from Marte, dancing to Raffi's songs, stomping around, running, not walking, mimicking our talk, doing her own talk, playing with other kids at the library, playing with her "baby" doll Rita, and of course playing with her dogs ("vov, vov!" her dogs are now plentiful: Eddy, Snoopi, Husky, and then there's bamse, and gopher, and pus-pus). She loves "swimming" in the bath tub and the baby pool outside (but now I think the season for that's over). Meeting other kids in the neighborhood ("heeeiiii!!!" w/big smiles). And other adults. And animals (she likes the ducks in the river, and whatever cat and dog she hears or sees, and birds. But she's not too interested in the squirrels, and there are plenty of those around.