The Stuff of Life Every Day

We're living in crisp falls days with so much blue sky perfectly accented by red, yellow, orange, and still some green. The leaves are gathering in crunchy clusters, pushed around by the wind and kicking and swishing feet through the piles. October is the month for soaking in the sun whenever it can be found. I sit in patches on my living room rug to warm my bare feet and avoid the shade when I am outside. It is especially nice to walk with the sun on my back temporarily storing heat in my dark gray sweatshirt.

We are getting outside as much as we can while the weather is still very pleasant. It seems like the ideal part of autumn where, depending on the temperature and time of day, cozy and free can both be enjoyed. We're not trapped inside or sick of root vegetables yet. I keep cooking butternut squash and pureeing it with a generous amount of butter, salt and pepper. Amos has long outgrown purees, but he loves spooning this baby food into his mouth (also squeezing it in his fist). We have months ahead for cooking squash every which way.

I've been knitting as much as possible. So far just hats, one for each of us. Most years I don't start knitting until well after we need the warm woolens but for some reason this October I am already knitting around and around and around. I think a lot about these little projects, the foods I prepare regularly for us to eat, the stuff of every day life that is also a satisfying creative outlet. They are the things that I could, if I had the money and the desire, outsource to companies and manufacturers but I do them myself because I want the connection and rhythms of every day life. I always want to give more credit and value to these every day things. Filling the pantry, making dinner, writing a letter, things that don't cause big excitement but we do them day after day, season after season. They should be valued and enjoyed because it is these small things that life is made of.