I am not an October girl. You will never see me post an Anne of Green Gables quote on the first, nor will I be skipping through a pumpkin patch to select an overpriced gourd for a carve-off unless I am bodily dragged. I do not dress up for Halloween or drink pumpkin spiced anything. If there is an autumnal version of the Grinch, that is whose spirit I channel in this season.
Strangely, this October didn't feel quite so Grinchy. It also didn't feel much like the kind of October I have come to dread––windy, cold, desolate with rain and dead leaves. Rather, it was strikingly warm and gloriously vivid. The vicious rains that usually drive the colors from the trees have been uncharacteristically merciful; along the route I walk every day, the red maples are still defiantly vermilion. Nearly every day, when I stepped outside with Dobby, I couldn't believe how perfect the weather felt. Every day felt like the last good day, but those bad days of miserable rain and wind never came. Every walk beneath the friendly sun felt like a gift.
Here's what I read, cooked, and created in the month of October.
What I Read
Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi (★★★★)
The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human, Jonathan Gottschall (★★★★)
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure, Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff (★★★★★)––reread
If you want to hear the rationale behind my rating, head to my Goodreads for full reviews.
What I Cooked
Although I like eating cupcakes (who doesn't), I don't particularly like making them. They require a level of finesse I have not yet developed, so I typically avoid making cupcakes if at all possible. But my desire to eat a chai latte cupcake overrode my desire to make an easy dessert, so I gave these a shot for my sister-in-law's birthday celebration.
The cupcakes and frosting were easy enough. I hesitated to make the caramel brûlée bits because they just sounded fiddly, but I decided to do the thing properly, and I'm so glad I did. The whole cupcake was the perfect blend of spicy and sweet, and the brûlée added a great crunch.
I made the normal Sally's Baking Addiction pretzels a couple years ago, but without the aid of my husband, whose first job was at Auntie Anne's, I never would have been able to shape the pretzels. So I decided to make the bites instead and simplify everybody's lives. My pretzel salt from Amazon did not reach me in time, and my Himalayan pink salt didn't quite do the job, but they still turned out pretty well and disappeared fast.
What I Created
Unpublished original poem about ordinary life
An example character analysis essay for my students' educational enrichment
I realize, looking back on those afternoon walks I so enjoyed, that the time is always a gift, whether it feels like it or not. It is a gift to wake up, a gift to have a body that can walk, a gift to see sunshine and changing leaves. I love November because it is so focused on giving thanks, but (as we are so often reminded at this time of year), thanksgiving is not a seasonal activity like raking leaves or apple picking. It is good to give thanks every day––even if it's cold.