Joys of Autumn (even in 2020)

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e've been given an Autumn Season this year. It came on time! Days began to become crisp in September with a few hot days sprinkled in. October has been a beautiful Fall; with days alternating from crisp and blue sky to cozy and rainy. 

Danielle & Lucy

Danielle asked me to visit and be part of Lucy's first Halloween. Who can resist this proposition?  It was a lovely mother-daughter-baby day. Lucy slept as we drove to the farm, which was a couple of counties over. The roads quickly became two lanes and were flanked by houses with lots of land between one and the other. A really peaceful drive was the backdrop of our hushed talking tones (so as not to wake the baby). We talked about little things as well as big. We talked about making a plan to vote. Danielle had already executed her plan and voted earlier that week. I love that about her. She is a good planner and once she has made a plan, it is always executed. I too planned to vote early and made sure I completed my plan within the week. 

Arriving at the farm just as Lucy woke up was perfect. She always wakes up happy. This baby girl is fearless. She can't quite walk yet, but she so wants to. And when we were visiting the cow, she did not want to be in her mother's arms. She wanted to get to the cow! There was a corn maze that the farm is fairly well known for. We went to see it and I will tell you the size was remarkable. Danielle and I hovered around the outside of the maze for a few photo ops.  We knew the maze was not for us as we heard people inside the maze saying things like, "We are going around in circles!"

I've begun to experience a few happy autumn activities myself. Earlier in the month I spent a weekend in the NC mountains, in a town called Burnsville. There was a B&B that was home-base. The town has a small "square" with a restaurant that served the best filet mignon and a decadent chocolate cake, both of which made the four-hour drive worth it. 

Photo by Dmitry Zvolskiy from Pexels

Mornings (after breakfast) were spent at a lovely coffee shop. The two-story building with wood floors felt every bit like a quaint small-town coffee shop. The shopkeeper even knew many of the customers' names. Upstairs were a few tables with two amazing windows to look out onto the square. Each day was spent near the window, drinking a vanilla latte, and listening to conversations that I wasn't meant to hear. A little bit of writing took place as well. --The old-fashioned kind of writing, with pen and paper. These types of weekend mornings are my version of heaven on earth.