The sound of October

“I am still every age that I have been. Because I was once a child, I am always a child. Because I was once a searching adolescent, given to moods and ecstasies, these are still part of me, and always will be. This does not mean that I ought to be trapped or enclosed in any of these ages – the delayed adolescent, the childish adult – but that they are in me to be drawn on.” — Madeleine L’Engle

I came across these words a few weeks ago and they struck me.

Each year another 365 days of memories and experiences is layered into what has already been. The optimistic seven year old sits next to the moody fourteen year old who is sandwiched between the twenty-two year old; excited for her first job, looking shockingly at the twenty-five year old and wondering how on earth there is a baby in her arms: they let you walk out of the hospital without your mom?! But she is side-eyeing the thirty five year old who, indeed, has “a few” gray hairs along with more than “a few” battle-scars from the past decade.

On my morning walk last week, I heard a rare sound that transported me back to the eight year old me.

I knew the sound before I even whipped my head around.

It was the sound of October in north-central Wisconsin: Canada geese.

It wasn’t uncommon to hear the sound of geese in the fall in central Wisconsin. As a child I remember hearing them overhead as we were playing at recess or waiting for the bus on a chilly morning. The honking usually caught our attention, but it wasn’t rare to see them.

As a child, I took seeing geese flying south for granted; I didn’t realize that the honking of geese isn’t the sound of October for everyone.

Hearing geese and seeing their graceful vees fill an October sky is now a rare sight for me. In the twelve years that we’ve lived in Southern California I have seen exactly two vees of geese flying overhead. Two. In twelve years. Something that was so commonplace in my childhood became incredibly rare. My children have never heard or seen a vee of Canada geese.

As I heard that familiar yet forgotten honking last week, a memory struck me. It was a chilly Sunday morning in October when I was eight. My dad and I were working on cleaning out the garage, but the intensity of the honking we heard brought us to the end of our driveway with our necks craned up as flock after flock after flock passed over us.

The vees stretched farther than I’d ever seen them before. Dozens and dozens of flocks filled the sky. We were both in awe because there were so many birds. As they passed overhead, I would try to count one side of the vee, then double it to guess how many birds were flying. Some of the vees easily had over one hundred each.

All headed tirelessly in one direction: south.

That memory from decades ago stood out last week on my morning walk as I saw a vee of geese flying in solitude through the marine layer.

The eight year old wondered all day where they were headed.

The thirty-nine year old in me couldn’t help but think that the rare sighting that morning was a kiss of grace before a really hard day, just for me.

The smell of October

When it comes to picking what to diffuse, I tend to find a combination that I love and then shamelessly fill my diffuser with the same thing for basically the entire month. Kind of like a good playlist. You too? Then this is the only recipe mix (see what I did there?) you need for October.

When we smell something, our limbic system responds. That’s important because our limbic system is the part of our brain that controls our emotions. Armed with that information, I know that I can make a positive impact in our home’s emotions simply by filling up my diffuser each morning. Diffuser blends do more than just make my home smell good, they literally make my job easier by providing a calm undertone for all of the emotions my family faces each day.

This blend is the perfect blend of spice and citrus and is perfect for fall. It’s my current go-to each morning when I fill up my diffuser.

Snippet from my week

I’m challenging again! This time it’s a 30 day challenge in a Marine Blue Maggie dress. I think it’s safe to say I’m officially hooked on wool dresses. This is my fourth wool dress and I find myself reaching for only these dresses day after day. If you are wondering what I’m talking about, you can read about it more here.

Thanks for reading! What’s your favorite thing about fall, or a memory of fall from your childhood? I would love to hear about it! Just hit reply if you’d like to respond. (When you hit reply, your message goes directly to my email. It’s a private conversation between just us.) I read all your messages and try to respond, but not always in a timely manner. Sorry! And if you enjoyed this email, you’d be doing me a favor by forwarding it to someone else who might like it.