I was thinking it is time to take a close look at where I am with my reading, where I had wanted to be and what I can realistically accomplish in the last few months of the year. I am forever in 'catch up mode' these days, however. So first a quick visit to Stillmeadow and I see that life there is much how I am feeling right now. I had to smile when Gladys noted that her Spring to-do list needed to be chucked and one for winter should be started, since I am feeling the same way.
September really does feel like a transitional month and I get that feeling that it was similar for Gladys on the Cape. School is in full force, summer is weirdly lingering but hot days in September don't feel exactly the same as they do in July. The seasons are gearing up and Fall has arrived. On the Cape the summer people have returned to their rest of the year lives and the permanent Cape Cod families can start their real/normal everyday lives finally.
The leaves are changing on the Cape. But all at different speeds and curiously the same kind of trees in the same setting seem to be each doing their own thing. For me Fall is all about the apples, which are my favorite, so this time of year they are an almost gourmet treat.
"September meals are no problem, except how to keep up with the vegetables. I eat tomatoes at least twice a day. The season is all too short for sun-ripened tomatoes. I like them friend for breakfast. I first fry thin slices of bacon until very crisp. Then I take the bacon from the pan and cut tomatoes in half, dip them in seasoned flour, and fry them in the bacon drippings, turning only once. I garnish them with chopped parsley."
I imagine her house must have always had the smell of good cooking wafting about. I might stick with my apples for now, but I do hope she talks about pumpkins and squash in her October writing. She mentions her cookbooks, which would be quite interesting to look at, so I will have to look for them.
There is the usual chat about kids and neighbors and even the dogs, but I seem most drawn to her reflections on nature and time and how to slow things down. These are the bit I most like to dog ear in my book.
"Most of us spend a lot of time seeking happiness and always feel we shall achieve it magically. We translate our yearning into symbols--a new house, a bigger and better car, a place in the city, a collection of something special or a rare painting worth more money than we have. We want material success for our children along with ease of living and more luxuries then we had when we were their age. And then most of us wonder that happiness doesn't come to sit by our fireside. If we are fortunate, we realize at some point in our search that we are taking the wrong path. Happiness is, in the end, an attitude of mind. It involves acceptance of reality and a warm appreciation of such simple things as a friend looking happy when we meet unexpectedly or the way the first star comes out at twilight. It means an open heart."
Yes, I agree with her on meeting a friend who has a twinkle in their eye when they see you. I have not had enough of that of late. Maybe that is why I find my frustration level so easily raised. I try and tell myself to just slow down, and breathe. I am working (endlessly it seems) on finding the right balance. Each month when I set myself a little time to read the next chapter (always making time to read it in one slow go), I find that it reminds me that calmness is a really good thing and to cultivate it. But must make ready for the next thing, the coming of shorter, darker and colder days. I am not quite ready for those, but it hovers in the back of my mind.
"September is a special grace for those of us who face a long, bitter New England [and Midwestern, too!] winter. Summer's lease has been all too short; now it is over. Nature is at her mysterious work of turning leaves, putting gardens to bed, signaling wildlife to prepare for the heavy snows."
On to October, but hopefully not yet more than those turning of leaves!