Done! I finished up the last of the midterm mayhem on Friday morning. It seems that while I was inside over the last two weeks, fall turned to late fall. It dipped below freezing here a couple of nights ago, and again last night. The sun is rising later (as I discovered at the tail-end of an all-nighter) and setting earlier.
I bought a new coat on Saturday, and not a moment too soon--I had to wear it for the first time on Sunday when we went to see Michael Clayton. Jacket-wise, I've been making-do up until now with a trench coat that I usually wear on rainy days in the summer, but I realized on Sunday afternoon--out for another walk at Great Brook Farm with Stephen and his dog--that the time for such cobbled-together cold-weather solutions has passed. It's time now for hats and gloves and scarves, and lots of wool.
A couple of weeks ago, I got out all of my sweaters and lined them up in the blue cubbies that Stephen made last year. (We couldn't think of any other name for them, but that word--cubby--cracks me up. I haven't had a cubby since kindergarten.) I used to hate the itchiness of wool sweaters, and would only wear cotton or acrylic. But I like the look and smell of wool, so I always hoped to get over my aversion to the itch. Then I met Stephen and noticed that he wore lots of wool. I asked how he could stand the itch-factor, and he said he just got used to it after awhile. So I gave it another try, and now I'm a total devotee. Wool, wool, wool, all the time, from late October to early April. The Cold Season.
This is our thirteenth month in Cambridge, so I'm starting to recognize patterns from last year. Walking home from work in the dark, seeing pots of mums on all the porches, opening the door into an apartment hissing with radiator heat. We got our first batch of brussels sprouts--one of my favorite treats from last autumn--from the grocery store this evening.
The neighborhood is really geared up for Halloween. Some people have dozens of carved pumpkins on their porches, or miniature graveyards out front and huge spiderwebs strung in the trees. I like seeing my neighbors' creativity, but I just don't get into the holiday that much myself. I'm already looking forward to Thanksgiving. I mean, I like carving pumpkins as much as the next person. But unless you're going out trick-or-treating--something that I think is weird to do past the age of 18 unless you're with kids--there's just not a whole lot to do on Halloween. Especially if you don't like horror movies, which I don't. I think I'd be more into the holiday if I lived in a house where people came for candy. I hope to someday. Then I could both hang out in my pajamas and partake in the festivities. Killer combo, that.
