It’s interesting how we can no longer rely on the seasons to metaphorically color inside the lines. Take today, for example:
Overcast and 84 F: A harbinger of what’s New for Fall?
It’s been 84 and overcast all day. What kind of a season is this?
Maybe we could call it “sumall” or “fasum”?
Extra points for creativity, 9! I’m pretty sure the garden finds this darn confusing. The poor Dulcina beans really don’t know what to do: “Should we grow because it’s warm or fall off our stems because it’s too dark?”
So you’re both talking to the garden plants and quoting them now?
Good observation, Lily. To me, fall is a confusing season. Is it the end of something or the beginning of something?
This week I decided it is the beginning of something.
For some cultures, this week is the beginning of the New Year. Those of Jewish belief start the celebration with Rash Hashanah at sunset tonight. It’s also Ethiopian and Eritrean New Year tomorrow, and lots of indigenous and agricultural communities start the new year at the time of the fall equinox.
And what comes with the start of a New Year?
New Year’s Resolutions!
Very good, 9. And while I wouldn’t classify these particular activities as resolutions, I am instating them in the next week or two.
You’re not going to make us do DIY Spanish again, are you?
No, Lily. In the past that was an epic fail because I already do so many things that require sitting in one place. I just didn’t have the bandwidth for one more. But we did get a little bit farther with our astronomy project a few years back. That’s one activity that benefits from shorter hours of daylight. For example, at 5:21 AM on Tuesday we saw this:
Pre-dawn capture of the Moon and Jupiter: Night sky beauty keeps longer hours in the fall. . .
The combination of the garden finishing up and the recent purchase of a Mediterranean Diet cookbook has inspired me to start an indoor herb garden. I watched a YouTube video about best practices and ordered basil, cilantro and thyme seeds online (Note: I would have purchased them locally, but such things are scarce in Walla Walla at this time of year). When those arrive, once they are sown in their pots, I have a wide, sunny kitchen windowsill to accommodate them.
Science stuff. Green stuff. Are we going to do anything that’s actually fun?
Yes, we are, 9. Very recently I tried an Irish dance class that proved to me my hips, the right one in particular, are not up for hopping and kicking. I really would like to dance again, but I stepped back and gave it deeper thought. What is it that I’d really like to do with dance? Answer: a low-impact tap class that focuses on footwork, syncopation and a touch of elegance that will give me a good workout without trashing my joints.
Time to polish up the tap shoes and start a DIY New for Fall tap class. . .
As luck would have it I found a copy of a tap-dancing manual I once owned at Thrift Books. The book is on the way! I’m resolved to keep looking for a tap teacher locally, but until I find one I will work through the book. If I find other dancers who are not teachers but who’d like to do this, maybe we could do it together? The “where” of it remains murky, but for now I’m running on the idea “If you build it, they will come.”
Okay, but couldn’t we just bake something fall-like? Like an apple cake or gingerbread cookies?
I hadn’t really considered that, 9, with the low carb diet I’m supposed to follow, but I just queried low carb apple cake recipes and found one that’s net 5 grams carbs. It uses almond and coconut flour. We can certainly give it a try!
Hurry up, I’m hungry!
One of the side effects of darker, cooler days.
At least they might be cooler. Given the weird climate shifts the world is experiencing, another new for fall thing might be different weather. . .
