Happy November! The last few months have seen me slacking in the online documentation of my oh-so-fascinating life, but the autumnal coolness in the air following Hurricane Sandy’s passage last week has me motivated to catch up on previously mislaid hobbies — knitting and blogging, chiefly. I’m lusting after gorgeous, squishable yarn and raring to write things more interesting than utilitarian emails. This month is shaping up to include some travel to visit family and some projects to ready the house for tenants when we move early next year, so it may be wishful thinking on my part to suppose I will have time for everything. If nothing else, tapping out a blog post now and again could provide a pleasant respite from the pre-PCS freak-out I’m already beginning to feel creeping in around the edges.
Autumn Holidays
Sampson and I have not had much time to breathe this fall. We made it through the mad rush of the Jewish holidays; Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah all pop up in remarkably quick succession. As has been the case in years past, the craziness factor in Sampson’s squadron seemed to ramp up at the same time. Mighty inconvenient, that. His chain of command does try to be accommodating of his religious observance, but the unrelenting requirements of the flight schedule were not amenable to Sampson’s taking off any more time than the bare minimum for the High Holidays. We missed out on building our own sukkah this year; I had neither the heart nor the handiness to tackle the job on my own, so our observance was rather lacking. Next year, wherever we may wind up, I want to make sure we do not let that joyful time pass us by again.
Stormy Weather
Hurricane Sandy passed our house by, leaving nothing more in the way of clean-up than a few downed branches and a ton of leaves scattered across the yard. We were very lucky. I spent most of this past weekend holed up alone in the house, watching the rain, listening to the wind, and wishing in most uncouth terms that the Navy hadn’t played its customary “Forget the woman and children; save the airplanes!” card, sending Sampson and several of his squadronmates on a “HURREVACation” to sunny Florida. Not gonna lie, the injustice of it all rankled a little bit. (Okay, it rankled a lot.) But, he’s home now, and we were extremely fortunate with the storm’s minimal impact on ourselves and our loved ones in Northern Virginia. I sincerely hope that was the last gasp of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season.
Candyween
Halloween saw a moderate number (for our neighborhood) of trick-or-treaters on our doorstep. Even though we parceled out generous handfuls to each child, we still wound up with leftovers from our single bowl of candy. My favorite kid this year was the adorable, tiny witch who had not yet mastered the trick-or-treating procedure: she tried to walk right in when I opened the door. Cute as she was, I’m not sure she tops last year’s favorite, a little boy who caught a whiff of the beef stew simmering away on the stove and announced, “Mmm, y’all are cooking something good in here; I can smell it!” This year, our chicken soup was already eaten and the leftovers put away before the doorbell started ringing, so no word on whether my cooking still meets with youthful approval.
How is your November shaping up? Got any fun stuff on tap for chillier days and lengthening nights?
To the Nth 