It's well and truly fall now. The radiators have come on in our building, and if we leave the windows open overnight I wake up with a chilled nose. We got a new duvet cover at Ikea and put the comforter back on the bed. I got a bottle of Woolite and started freshening the sweaters I've been storing in the "jam" cupboard since last winter. I love the smell of a Woolited (Woolit?) sweater. So clean.
We haven't gotten any pumpkins yet, but I plan to soon. Problem is, I've got two papers due next week. School, bleh. Actually, I like what I'm learning, and I like the assignments; it just stinks to sacrifice brilliant fall weekends to the computer screen. One of my classes ends in a week, though, and then I can chill a little. Finally get some groceries. Make fall-ish things to eat. We went out for breakfast last Saturday and I had pumpkin cranberry pancakes. They didn't taste all that pumpkinish, but it was a nice idea. And the cranberries looked festive. I love all of the pumpkin-themed food this time of year. Last week, I got a pumpkin cupcake with cinnamon frosting at Kick Ass Cupcakes. Worth every penny, and it was a lot of pennies for a cupcake.
The last of the warm weather disappeared after Columbus Day. We went to visit my family in NY State for the long weekend, and it was hot there. Stephen and I went apple- and zinnia-picking, and we had to take a couple breaks for water and ice cream. So sunny. It was a magical weekend, though. Just what you want on a three-day weekend in October.
On Saturday, we went to the Applefest in town, then wandered down Huguenot Street looking at the old houses. We found a sweet, ancient cemetery and sat there for a while, soaking up the afternoon sun. Some of the gravestones were from the 18th century, and were very primitively carved. I loved that. I think I'd rather have a hand-drawn gravestone than one of those flashy granite ones they have today. Modern ones look too slick to me, like a PR person printed them out. These stones, by contrast, had a lot of character. There was care in them.
On our way back up the street, we walked under a black walnut tree. Just then, the wind picked up, and baseball-sized nuts rained down, smashing into the pavement with alarming determination. I jumped out of the way as a woman next to me pointed skyward, saying, "Look at all of those apples falling!" Geez, save yourself, lady!
On Sunday, we went with my mom and dad for a ride on the Rondout on their friend's homemade steamboat. There was another steamboat out on the river, too, although ours was small (big enough for 7 people) and theirs was about twice the size. We all waved to each other. People always wave to each other on the water. I'm not sure why—it's like we're all so excited and happy to be out on a boat that we can't help but share it with others—"Isn't this fun? Weeee!"
After the boat ride, we had tea and fancy food at the little Tea Room in New Paltz. I'm not very adventurous when it comes to food--I like it meat-free and mild—but I'm willing to go crazy with tea. Black tea, white tea, green tea, oolong, rooibos, chai—bring it on. I think I got some kind of Provence rooibos blend. Fruity, sweet. I could get into tea the way others get into wine. Talk about the bouquet and the nose and other subtleties of flavor. Drink it long into the night. Sigh. Born in the wrong century, wrong country.
Later, my dad showed us his Iceland slideshow. We used to watch slideshows all the time when I was little—my dad would hang a white sheet in the living room doorway, and we'd sit on the couch as he narrated his various adventures. Most of the pictures were taken before I was born, so it's cool to see my parents building their house, my mom with long hair, the dog they had when they were first married. This particular slideshow is from a trip my dad took to Iceland to film the aftermath of the eruption on the island of Heimaey in the 1970s . The streets were full of black, black dust, and they arrived just as people were starting to return to the island. One guy they met invited them to dinner and served puffin. His was the only yard that had been swept clean at that point. Some houses were completely buried and had to be abandoned. Hard to imagine living in the shadow of a volcano.
The next day, Stephen and I went to a farm to check out the Corn Maze they'd advertised. It was pretty effective--the corn was tall and thick, and the dense greenery muffled all outside sounds. I got lost at one point and shouted to Stephen, but he couldn't hear me. Luckily, I could just see the top of the chestnut tree we passed on the way in, so I was able to navigate my way out. I heard some parents calling for their kids in the maze, and was grateful not to be looking for a lost child. I'd probably tie my kids to me before venturing in. I'm a worrier that way.
We picked zinnias at the farm, like I said, and apples, and got some ice cream. They had animals there, too--goats and rabbits and heirloom chickens—so we went to see them and took some pictures. We agreed that turkeys, followed closely by guinea fowl, are the Ugliest Animals That Ever Were.
Don't you think?
