Day 13: Call Me Cozy

October is all about cozy. It is snuggly blankets, warm sweaters, bonfires, tea, comfort food and smells. There is nothing quite like the smell of October. Many different businesses have tried to bottle autumnal goodness and they fall short. How do you capture the essence of comfort, whimsy and pumpkin?

Yesterday I overloaded on October smells. After that cleansing rain we had, the sky was oh so blue and the smell of smoke was gone, baby, gone. One could actually smell the wet earth and fresh rain aroma. It was a gorgeous, crisp day and I had a pantry and refrigerator to clean. This meant cooking and baking and lots of it. I made zucchini bread and caramel white chocolate zucchini bread, pecan pie, and caramel apple crisp, roast with all the fixin’s, ceviche, and roasted butternut squash. My house smelled wonderful and the scent of caramel is still lingering today.

While I waited for things to boil, bake or roast, I had cocoa with some fancy whipped cream and read a book out on my porch with all my scarecrows. I watched the neighbors hustle and bustle and do all manner of things. It seems we all are taking advantage of these beautiful fall days.

As the day came to a close I sat inside with the fire going and watched the sky turn from light blue to deep indigo. A little lemon yellow wedge hung on at the bottom of the horizon and then it slipped behind the trees. I left my door open and watched my Halloween porch lights come on along with my inflatables. I was tired of waiting to use them so yesterday was their grand debut.

I felt content and spent the remainder of the evening curled up on the couch with a cup of pumpkin tea and a good murder mystery. I love fall. I wish I could bottle yesterday up and keep it for when the winds of winter come howling.

What does your perfect October day look like?

Day 11: Yesterday

Yesterday was my favorite kind of October day. It started off in the dark, early hours of the morning. I took a walk around my sleepy town. It was a Saturday so no sane person was up at 6am. The streets were mostly empty and if I used my imagination just right it looked like a ghost town, which was kind of disconcerting since I had watched the Walking Dead the evening previous. Putting the idea of zombies aside, I channeled my inner Audrey Hepburn (even though I was wearing sweats) and got a croissant and hot cocoa for my stroll.

After my early morning ramble I ran a few errands and then planned out the rest of my day. I was going to be very, very productive; however, those plans lasted about as long as it took to write them. The day was dark and cold (my favorite kind of day). The candy corn lights on my front porch twinkled merrily in the gloom and I opted to sit and look out my window at them instead of tackling my to do list.

Then, it rained!!! It started off as a lite mist at first, nothing to write home about, then the heavens opened up and it poured. This had been the first rainfall in I don’t know how long and I wasn’t going to waste it. I opened up my door and all the curtains. I turned on the fireplace, got on my Halloween jammies and watched the rain for a few hours. It was bliss.

Rain makes me happy. It energizes my soul, and October rain gives me an extra special boost. I started feeling productive again as the rain abated so I did some laundry and made a fabulous dinner from a new recipe. Then I spent the rest of the evening watching scary movies and finishing a book.  It was a great day. That’s what I love about October; you never quite know what surprises may lay in store. It was an easy, laid back day that didn’t demand anything out of me. I got to simply sit and soak in the good. I hope you have a chance to experience that in your coming October days.

October Thought Day 14: Forecast Calls for Cozy

With the weather taking a turn more toward the inclement, I felt that the thought for today should center more on the cozy aspect of October. After all, October is snuggle weather; and not snuggle because you have to, snuggle because you want to. The air is crisp and cool but not unpleasantly so. Now and then the wind may pick up but it never lasts, and the next thing you know, you wake up to a perfectly golden fall day. Some autumnal days may be a touch rainy but it isn’t anything like the sleet and snow of December, at least not yet.

October is when you start pulling out the heavy fuzzy blankets from storage and wrapping yourself up in them like a burrito. Sometimes even the flannel sheets come out and you get to spend hours luxuriating in the cozy warmth of their embrace, and there is nothing quite like a cold October floor to send one scampering back into the soft cocoon of still warm sheets.

In October the sweatshirts and long sleeved shirts make a fashionable appearance and socks come back into vogue, as do long boots and leggings. In October you can wear your knit cap and earmuffs and feel right at home, and there is nothing quite so cozy as the warmth of a hoodie that smells like a campfire. It’s like wearing a hug.

Speaking of which, October is a time for bonfires and relighting the fireplace. One can spend hours sitting and watching the hypnotic flames spark and twist in the autumn air. In front of the fire surrounded by blankets is a good place to snuggle up with a book and a hot cup of pumpkin cocoa. It is also the ideal place to tell ghost stories.

October is the time for hot apple cider and warm donuts. Hearty stews and casseroles come back on the menu as well as fresh baked bread right out of the oven. Fall is all about comfort food that sticks to your ribs and makes you feel warm inside and out.

Fall is a time of wrapping up and drawing near. Of pulling those we love closer and taking a minute to think of the blessings the year has bestowed. The days get darker faster and there is more time to reflect on a job well done and the prospects of tomorrow.

Yes, October is all about coziness and contemplation.

It’s about brightly colored scarves and looking forward to the holidays before you stop looking forward to the holidays. It’s warm socks and mittens and laughing into the wind.

It’s those breathless moments after running to your car and sitting waiting for the heater to kick in.

October is all of this and more. So snuggle down, drink something warm and bask in the October glow.

October Thoughts Day 9: October Surprises Me Again

Last night I had the best of intentions to sit down and write my October Thought. I was excited, I was ready, and then I got distracted. The night was dark. The wind was howling. It was almost perfect October weather. (perfect would have fog and a full moon) I grabbed my trusty blanket, snuggly dog, some warm socks and went to watch the show. Everyone was asleep so I snuck into the living room and listened as the wind tried its hardest to take the roof off of the house. The eaves creaked and moaned and it was wonderful.

There is nothing like the feeling of being safe, secure and snuggly. One can watch the wind push and pull against nature. Listen as it screams in frustration and all the while be wrapped up in a cozy blanket. It just feels good. After a while I wanted a little more ambience to add to my late night snuggle fest, so I turned on the electric fire. I made a cocoon out of the blanket, curled up on the floor and watched the fake flames dance. It was all so peaceful.

Too peaceful in fact. I woke up quite a few hours later and dawn was peeking over the horizon. The wind was gone, but the fake fire remained. The puppy was curled up in my cocoon with me and all was right with the world. October seems the ideal time to find moments like this. Quiet times to be alone with ones thoughts. I don't know if it is the weather that turns us inward, but introspection seems to happen a lot more in October, at least for me. So that was how I spent my morning, watching the sun come up and enjoying the simple pleasures of an electric fire, warm blanket and a cuddly companion. I love these unexpected October moments!

Day 5: Comfort and Joy Early

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.

Day 23: Sock It To Me

So the thought for today will be rather short. Not because I don't have anything wonderful to say, but because I feel the need to give your eyes a brief rest before the deluge that is the last 8 days. I didn't even realize that I passed the 10 day countdown. I guess time really does fly when one is having so much fun. I am still hoping that October will hear my plea and being the annexation campaign on November, but so far, no plans are forthcoming. A girl can dream.

Anywho, in keeping with my cozy October theme is a product near and dear to my heart.......the holiday sock. As a rule, I love weird socks. It is a covert way to show ones enthusiasm while still keeping it professional up top. One of my favorite things was going to work in my sensible ...clothes and knowing that beneath my shoes lurked socks with dancing candy corns. It gave me a thrill to hike my pant leg up and wow the unsuspecting with my odd sock choices. It still does.

Holiday socks are beyond wonderful and October socks are some of the best. There are bones, bats, skulls, vampires, eyes, wolves, scare crows, pumpkins, cats, spiders, webs, potions, haunted houses, monsters, etc. I have quite the collection. One day I hope to have 31 pair of October socks so I can wear one per wonderful day. Right now as I type, I am wearing Halloween pumpkin slippers. I feel quite festive. I will have to scour the internet to see if they make such a thing as corn maze socks. I'll bet they do. I hope they do.

Last year a dear friend gave me a pair of Halloween socks that had a black pom pom on the heel. My darling puppy was so enamored with them that he followed me all over the house trying to bite the pom poms off. He succeeded with alarming speed and the pom poms are sadly no more. But see, October socks can be fun for everyone. I challenge you to go out and buy a pair ASAP. Wear them under your sensible shoes and see what a delight you will get from being so sneaky. Man I love October.

Day 4: Cozy & Quiet

Last night I had the best of intentions to sit down and write my October Thought. I was excited, I was ready, and then I got distracted. The night was dark. The wind was howling. It was almost perfect October weather. (perfect would have fog and a full moon) I grabbed my trusty blanket, snuggly dog, some warm socks and went to watch the show. Everyone was asleep so I snuck into the living room and listened as the wind tried its hardest to take the roof off of the house. The eaves creaked and moaned and it was wonderful.
There is nothing like the feeling of being safe, secure and snuggly. One can watch the wind push and pull against nature. Listen as it screams in frustration and all the while be wrapped up in a cozy blanket. It just feels good. After a while I wanted a little more ambience to add to my late night snuggle fest, so I turned on the electric fire. I made a cocoon out of the blanket, curled up on the floor and watched the fake flames dance. It was all so peaceful.
Too peaceful in fact. I woke up quite a few hours later and dawn was peeking over the horizon. The wind was gone, but the fake fire remained. The puppy was curled up in my cocoon with me and all was right with the world. October seems the ideal time to find moments like this. Quiet times to be alone with ones thoughts. I don't know if it is the weather that turns us inward, but introspection seems to happen a lot more in October, at least for me. So that was how I spent my morning, watching the sun come up and enjoying the simple pleasures of an electric fire, warm blanket and a cuddly companion. I love these unexpected October moments!

Day 1: Hello October

I can't believe it is finally here. It doesn't quite seem real. Today, is the first day of October, and I am a bit apprehensive that my alarm is going to go off and it will all turn out to have been just a dream. I will wake up and it will really be November 1st and I will have another whole year to wait.
Happily, that is not the case. I am wide awake, and there is a feeling of October swirling in the night sky. Already the log jam of wonderful begins to queue up in my mind. There are so many things to say, so many new ideas to share. There are old traditions to observe and new ones to implement. I'm so giddy that I haven't even picked out which October movie to watch first.
It has been a wild ride since the last time this month came around, but that isn't the point. The point is, that for thirty-one-derful days there is a special kind of magic in the air. A different way of being. The days have an unusual feel to them in October. I really can't say why. Maybe I am seeing things through orange colored glasses, but October really is a month set apart. It has personality, vigor and more than a little mischief. I have felt it creep into the other months and slip in pieces of itself. A dash of mystery here, a pinch of whimsy there. I have caught fleeting tastes and smells of October in the strangest places, and felt its pull on hot summer days. Ah October, I have missed you.
For those new to the October Thoughts (OT), welcome. For those who are old hands, welcome back. I am so happy that I get to share my love of this wonderful month with all of you. It makes the journey sweeter traveling with friends old and new. Who knows what exciting discoveries we will make and grand adventures we will have this time around. .

For traditions sake, I will now present the reading of the history and for lack of a better word, guidelines. I have always had a love affair with October. Everything about it is heightened (lots more on that later). Then in the early 2000's, I found someone else who shared my love of the orange month. She wrote her own October Thoughts (still does) and graciously allowed me to piggyback off of her idea. You see, October has more than enough wonderful for us to share. Ever since, in one form or another, I have bent the ear of any who would listen, why I think October is the best month of them all.
Being a girl who likes variety, I have much to love in this month. I love the cozy and the scary, the cute and the gory. I like paper Mache bats as much as ridiculously expensive couture costumes. I like the candy and the weather, the scares, the tastes, the magic, the colors and so much more. Not everyone will share in all my delights and that is ok. As far as I know, October doesn't hold any grudges.
For 31 days, I will write about some aspect of October that catches my fancy. Some thoughts will be old, some new. Most will be long, there will be more than a little nostalgia and unless otherwise stated, it will be all my rambling thoughts (you have been warned). For the most part, I write at night. This means that when you awake in the glorious October morning there will be a Thought ready and waiting for you. BUT, life does happen and sometimes the thoughts will be delayed. That just means that you can fill in your own. I am more than happy to take requests or play with comments. You the reader, help me make the magic and what we come up with together, can sometimes be the best part. I look forward to our interaction.
But for now, you get my manifesto on why I think October is so great in the first place. Each year I try to put into words a summation of my October love affair. And each year, I come up with something slightly different. This year my overarching theme is the word cozy. I get a great feeling of inner warmth and joy when I think about October. The nights turn crisp and hold the promise of snuggling under blankets and eating comfort food whilst drinking hot beverages. There are golden glows from the suns rays, and warm, comforting colors in the fall palate. There is a sense of ease in the traditions of the month. By now, life has fallen back into its rhythms and routines from the chaos that is summer. There are things to look forward to and life seems to turn inward. The frenetic pace of the holiday season has not yet hit and there is still a sense of enjoyment in the coming days. For all its mystery and magic, there is something reassuring and dependable about October. I can always count on something wonderful to happen.
In my minds eye, I see October as a sepia photograph or multifaceted jewel. It is nostalgia and friendship. Promise of better days and new insights. And it is never the same upon repeat viewing. October is the best kind of mystery and I look forward to unlocking it with you. So grab a pumpkin spice latte and your coziest blanket and come along with me on the grand adventure that is October!

October Cozies: OT Day 12

I started this thought last night, but the siren song of my warm, cozy bed finally proved to much for me to resist. I would like to say that I slipped off to sleep and dreamed of candy corn and dancing pumpkins. Instead I dreamed about math. Which was weird. But I woke up this morning a bit more refreshed than usual and ready to tackle my thought for the day.

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 a hearty jump 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 in 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. I am gardening and yard work challenged. I supposed I could do it if I really, really had to, but I tend to have a black thumb and plants seen to quickly rot and die just to escape me. Thanks to the bounty of October generosity, this year we have been gifted with tomatoes, apples, beans, squashes of all shapes and sizes, plums, peaches and cucumbers. I have baked, chopped, cooked, boiled, and blended to my hearts content and I still have more to go.

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. I 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.

I am lucky enough to have floor heating vents at the new house and one of my favorite October pastimes is to snuggle up next to the vent with a blanket and cuddle with the puppy and kitty. Their favorite spots are on either side of my head and I have to make sure to give each the exact same amount of love and attention. If the night is really cold, the puppy will crawl under the blanket with me and snuggle close.

See, October really is the coziest month, and I wouldn't have it any other way.