Preparing for the next season

A few days ago I put in my cd player Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas. I love that album. So simple. Jazzy piano numbers make you feel like you are standing right outside of FAO Shwartz in New York City on Christmas Eve. At least that is where it transports me. I know it is kind of early for this sort of behavior (unless you are a department store or Walmart). But I think I figured out where this bizarre behavior came from. You see, I think Halloween sneaked up on me. What with it being summer here until about 2 weeks ago, I kind of missed the "autumn" train. I saw the pumpkins for sale at the grocery store, and for a month I walked past them thinking, "I'm gonna get me one of those...next time."

And then October 29 rolled around.

I panicked. I had forgotten about that pumpkin. Eeck. Somehow that translated into, "Let's get prepared for Christmas so that doesn't pass us by." In went the Charlie Brown cd. Off went Karis and I to the library to pick out some autumn themed books. We also went to Walmart to pick out that pumpkin, but it was a meager showing. Three sad, small, disfigured options. Instead I opted for some cute little baby squash (or gourds?). And to satisfy that pumpkin craving, I made some pumpkin bread. Delicious, thank you for asking.

I love the seasons. I think they are an outdoor clock, of sorts. A beautiful, living calendar. I think I often enjoy the seasons as they are exiting, and I want to change that. I want to enjoy them as they enter, stay, and leave. I've thought about a few ways to accomplish that.

I'm thinking about putting up a bulletin board to hang little reminders of the season we are currently in. Even something as simple as "Happy Spring" would remind me to look out and enjoy the signs of the season. I am also going to try to cook more seasonally by shopping at my farmers market. Cooking with the harvest of the season. There are a few markets I want to check out. I'll let you know how that one goes.

My last endeavor will be to read books to Karis about the seasons. She is shaping up to be a very curious child (much like her momma). Exploring the outdoors, reading seasonal books from the library, crafts (when old enough) to celebrate the outdoors. These are a few of the commitments I am hereby making to ensure I don't experience another October 29 panic. (Yes, I know. This is also the date of "Black Tuesday", the day in 1929 when the stock market crashed. My panic is benign compared to that.)

I present to you the cutest, most adorable and crankiest little ladybug around. Here she is looking like a "superhero ladybug." I guess she had a little bit of costume identity confusion!