October is many things. It is beautiful, aromatic, spooky, chilly, whimsical and more. Everywhere you turn, there is a new part of October to experience. But today, today I focus on the comfortable. There is something to be said for the many ways in which October can go right to ones heart and bring comfort.
There is something about October that makes me feel cozy and happy. Beyond Halloween, decorations, corn mazes and pumpkin lattes at Starbucks, this feeling I think, is the reason that I love this month so much. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the weather starts to turn cooler (YAY). The days aren't quite so hot anymore, and the nights have a pleasantly chilly bite to them. Fans and ice packs get put away for another year while snuggly blankets and fuzzy slippers are dug out from the backs of closets. Or maybe it is because it starts to get dark earlier and there is more time to star gaze or take strolls in the twilight.
Really everything about October is cozy. The colors are richer and warmer. Snuggling by the fireside is that much better. Comfort foods come out. Thick and rich things like stews and hot cocoa, or sweet like pumpkin bread and cider. Then there are the soft things like quits, coats, gloves, sweaters and knit hats. If summer is a nice cool dip in a lake, then autumn is an exuberant leap into a snuggly feather bed. Whoops, I'm getting sleepy just typing that.
In autumn/October I have a deeper enjoyment of cooking. Breads, soups, hearty meals with vegetables straight from a farmers market. Food and sharing it is so much more enjoyable to me when you don't have to fend off bugs or melt from the heat of the oven on an already hot day. In October gardens are coming in and people are either canning or sharing the bounty of their hard work with friends and family to enjoy. This year I tried my hand at my own garden. While the fruits of my labor produced more weeds than edible bounty, it was fun and I plan to try it again. But just because my efforts failed many of my friends didn't. I have been blessed with zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes and squash till they are almost coming out of my ears (hey, that would make a great costume) October is all about sharing and bringing in the harvest. Time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
October is the perfect time to curl up in a snuggly chair and read. To me, it is sheer bliss to slip on some fuzzy socks, grab a cup of tea and lose myself for hours. I have a few books that I have saved this summer specifically for October snuggle reading. I am waiting for the perfect day. When there is sunshine but a chill in the air. When the world is a soft amber color and there is a slight breeze in the trees. I get a day like that every year. I have no idea when it will come, but it always shows up. Today is close and I have my books and magazines at the ready.
October is when I can finally wear my scarves, mittens and hats and not look weird or be on the verge of passing out from heat stroke. Besides it just looks odd if you have a hat and gloves in the middle of summer. October is when I get to slip on my furry boots to tromp up to the mailbox. When I can start wearing sweatshirts in the early hours of the morning as I watch the sun rise and the fog lift. October is also the time I start to wear socks again. It may be because the weather is turning cooler and I no longer can wear flip flops, or it may be because October is when they come out with holiday socks. It's too close to call really.
I am just more at peace with things in October. I am content to just be. The mornings are brisk and when I wake up I enjoy staying in my nice warm bed cocoon and daydreaming. Some of my favorite memories are from October. Specifically I like to recall sitting in my bedroom back home and watching the rain fall down onto the leaves on our back porch. My favorite position was with my nose pressed almost up to the glass with my chin resting on the wooden frame. I would sit with my feet on the heater wrapped in my moms old yellow bathrobe. I could do it for hours.
I also loved to sit in front of the fire place in our front room and do my homework at night. There was something about the twinkle of the city lights through the window, the smell of wood smoke and the crackle and pop of the fire that soothed me. I could read about the Industrial Revolution or the conquests of Charlemagne while wrapped in a fuzzy orange blanket with a dog at my feet. I miss that fireplace.
Now that we have moved, my new favorite memories are of being in the church at dark looking through the atrium windows at the orange sodium lights. It is the best feeling in the world to sit and listen to their hum and watch the sway of shadows as the trees move outside.
See, October really is the coziest month, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
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