A punch-list helps you organize the season ahead and make sure you miss nothing. Create your own and see what rises to the top.
- Be safe on HalloweenJ AND have fun! Take lots of photos. Text some to your mom. (If you can’t, you might not want them out there ………..)
- Don’t forget to set your clocks back on Saturday 11-1 before dawn 11-2.
- Then there’s Election Day. Hard to complain when we don’t make it to the polls. Your vote may be but a drop in the bucket on the National front, but individual votes DO make a difference here in Vermont.
- Skiers – don’t get caught with your dull skis in storage and your gloves heavens-knows-where. Remember that broken buckle on your ski boot? Then there’s that lower body strength training you were going to do … Snow is already in the forecast. There’s just enough time to get it together.
- Then there are snow tires to consider – but probably not yet.
- Cyclists, hikers and summer sports enthusiasts – have you been easing back in October ready to play in November, and start base building over the winter for a spring ramp that will have you on the road or up the trail as soon as the mud clears? Surely you did not put your gear away muddy or leave it strewn in the back of the car.
- Most everyone can agree on Thanksgiving as a holiday to celebrate. If you are local to Central Vermont, go to http://www.barrecongregational.org to register for this year’s 5k Gobble Wobble – 9:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving – perfect way to start the day before you start on the turkey!
- I know, I know, we all like to buy local. But, check out http://www.pamsmainewreaths.com/. Wonderfully fresh and beautifully hand-constructed wreaths by an amazing woman who lives near my summer hangout in Maine and runs her beloved wreath business out of her home with lots of help from family and neighbors.
- As the temps drop and we kick into high gear for the Vermont winter, it’s a good idea to look back over the months behind and carry forward that which sustains us. It is also the time to look around us and be good neighbors. If you have ever lived in a big city, you know what I mean when I say that city dwellers learn the fine art of avoiding eye-contact when walking down the street, have the fingers of one hand wrapped around a pepper spray as they approach the entrance to their apartment building, and rarely know the person who lives down the hall much less at the next block over. Here in Vermont we wave to passing drivers on our way to jobs and work to help supply those in need with everything from tires to warm coats to fuel and food. 10. As we segue into November, it is time to get real about shorter days and adapt accordingly with as little whining as possible. Don’t negate the beauties of a quiet hour in front of the fire with a book. (If you are saying, “yeah, right, in your dreams” – perhaps you should join me in reassessing what is busy about our lives and prioritizing that which is most important, yes, but also that which fills us with the satisfaction of sharing and living our moments meaningfully with family and friends. I love what I once read. Paraphrased – “Lose the word BUSY. It is a four-letter word. Instead say BLESSED or RICH WITH OPPORTUNITIES or POSSIBILITIES. And, if that doesn’t work, you are probably spinning wheels inappropriately.” Good idea anyway.
What can you add to this list? Or how can you adapt it for yourself?
I know that one thing I hope to do in the days, weeks and months ahead is to remain open to possibilities as well as to others. I have always believed that peoples’ paths cross for a reason. How often have you connected with another and some time later, probably within a different context, that person reenters your life?
Let me share with you a photo I recently received from someone who has become dear to me. It is a shot of the sunrise taken recently from the deck on which I sat for hours each morning last August.
It is a reminder that seasons change, kids grow up, parents age; but some things are always the same.
OCTOBER SUNRISE