Just One More October Post

I'm squeaking in under the wire on this last October post. Interruptions of the trick or treat sort are a certainty. I enjoy seeing the children in their costumes at my door. They are invariably polite and always say "thank you." The last group included a girl dressed in a paper bag with a cardboard crown. She was tickled pink when I told her that I, too, love "The Paper Bag Princess." 

In my garden the fig tree is virtually bare. Surprisingly, there are some ripe, but not too ripe, figs now visible. I plan to get a ladder and pick them in the next day or two. The dahlias and zinnias keep blooming and I cut another bouquet yesterday that included heathery hydrangea blossoms.

More hydrangea blossoms on the mantel, entwined with a string of small lights. Brass candlesticks suit autumn more than any other season, I think. Tonight there's a smiling jack-o-lantern on the porch and I've lighted a few candles inside, too. When the nights draw in, adding light and warmth makes home such a cozy place. 

Reading past and current. The bottom three are finished and back at the library and the top two are being read. 

I highly recommend A Gentleman in Moscow. It surprised me how much I enjoyed it: history and philosophy woven into a compelling tale. Women in Sunlight was so-so - too much telling and not enough showing, in my opinion. The House Between Tides characterized the lovely remoteness of Scotland with a deserted house and a bit of romance and mystery. I've just begun The Clockmaker's Daughter, and look forward to carrying on with it this evening. 

A Light So Lovely is about Madeleine L'Engle, an author I admire very much. The first book of hers that I read (back in Grade 7) was A Wrinkle in Time. Who can forget Meg and her adventures? Another of L'Engle's books I own is Walking on Water, which contains this favourite quote: 

"When we are writing or painting or composing, we are, during the time of creativity, freed from normal restrictions and opened to a wider world, where colours are brighter, sounds clearer, and people more wondrously complex than we normally realize." 

These two trick or treaters were the first at our door this evening. Are they not so very cute? Just for them I dressed up a little as a Snow Queen all in white/cream with a string of little lights in my hair and a soft feather boa around my neck.

As anticipated there have been interruptions during the writing of this post. In the distance I hear fireworks popping. And so this golden October ends. There's a lot of living packed into one month. Now we open the door to November and welcome in her days, one by one, "like pearls off a string" in Anne's words.