There are a couple of things I love about fall that I don’t often put into words. Instead, I tend to focus on the leaves, the crisp, sweater weather, the harvests and the upcoming holidays. But in between? While I will eventually hate the darkness that will envelop us from January through mid-March, until then, I actually enjoy a bit of that darkness. Indeed, it provides two things the rest of the year can’t: soft lights and still mornings.
The soft lights are an evening joy. One of the things I pursue most seriously in life is simple peace. Calm, quiet, a sense of home and belonging, and a natural, slow rhythm to life. When I go around at night, switching on small table lamps and my flameless candles, the house assumes a warm, calm glow. Immediately, it has an impact. It just makes the whole world feel softer and safer.
In the morning, instead of it getting light at around 5 a.m., daylight gets pushed farther back to about 7-7:15 a.m. S’okay for now. Mornings, particularly after a great night’s sleep and when I’m the only human up with the furries, are particularly calming. The pendant lights in the kitchen and one table lamp are enough to get me and the kitties through. Again, it is very soothing and makes the transition from night to day a gradual, natural one.
These days, with the deck project nearly finished and just my husband’s ceiling repair left to go, the idea of calm and quiet is highly appealing. After years of on and off renovations, the switch is firmly being shifted to off. At least for two years. We will do a project here and there as we see fit, but the massive, “renovate it all” effort that we’ve employed for better than a decade? That’s over. Very gradually, we are entering the next phase of our lives. It is truly time to be different and live differently. We are both so ready for it.
What’s up first for me? Well, after a short trip away with my bestie for a few days, I’m home and I’ve got four days before I go back to work. Four, gloriously unplanned days. Obviously, we need to work on the deck, keep taking care of leaves and I need to do the normal cleaning routine. But otherwise? It really is unplanned and I’m not going to try this morning to fill any of those empty hours. I love a good day dream and a good to-do list, but that’s part of the habits I need to break. Day dreamin’ leads to renovations; to-do lists lead to feeling like there’s always work. For now, I need to learn a little on how to just be.
And that leads back to soft lights and still mornings. Right now, the boy furries are going in and out of the catio lazily, not truly distinguishing between inside and outside, but knowing that snacks are soon due so checking to see if I’m also aware. (I am. They’re not due yet.) I’m about to finish this missive and watch the sun come up just in time to wake up the world. Another day will happen. This one will be slow and easy. Hugs will come naturally, kitty snuggles will be plentiful, coffee will be sipped not chugged and we will enjoy whatever today brings. I am super pleased that I was able to enjoy every stinking single second of summer this year right up until the end Tuesday evening. But it’s time for fall and all of its gloriousness.
Very calmly, very softly and very slowly, let’s bring it on…
The Yuppie Homesteader 