Well alrighty, then

I woke up very early this morning, after having gone to bed very late last night. My body had simply gotten enough sleep over the long weekend, and was done with it. I have read that as one ages, one needs less sleep. Here's to hoping I put my future increased waking hours to good use.

In my tendency to try and draw life lessons from everything, I reached a few conclusions this past weekend.

1. In recovering from my last disasterous relationship I've gone far enough in cultivating my solitude. I would do well to increase my tolerance of human beings, and spend more time with them.

2. Even if it is very cold outside, I would do well to get out and walk about for a while every day (unless there's some really gawdawful precipitation descending).

3. Cooking is engaging, and a good way to spend one's time and creative energy (I knew this, but had forgotten it).

I'll be glad to see the end of 2010—it has been a difficult year. For that matter, I'll be glad to see my next birthday, if for no other reason than to put behind me the most difficult decade of my life (I've decided it was worse than even my teens!).

Celebrating October

Yay, October! It's my favorite month of the year. The weather finally starts to cool down, and we make the definitively change from summer to fall. The leaves change, the final harvest comes in, and people and animals start to gather themselves and hunker down in preparation for the winter. Best of all, it ends with my favorite holiday, Halloween.

I've loved Halloween/Samhain since I was a child, and loved it all the more during my pagan years. Now, even as an agnostic, I recognize that since it falls at the halfway point between autumnal equinox and winter solstice, Samhain marks the decline of the old year and the preparation for a new one. For the old pagans it was Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve rolled into one holiday, and the veil between the living and those passed on was thinnest. I still think it will be a good time to assess the past, and the influences of those who've passed on, and then set my mind on the coming days.

I celebrated the first of October and the cooler weather yesterday by wearing my favorite hoodie. (Warrior Lacrosse Mojo hoodie, in brown.) It was fun to have it on again. My one regret about the coming cooler weather is that I won't be able to wear my Vibram FiveFingers outdoors. But I have some attractive and comfortable fall footwear, so I'll be fine. I do need a new coat, however.

As for my weekend, I plan a quick dinner with an old friend who is town for a few hours this evening. Other than that, I would do well to do some housekeeping. I'd planned to make this a magazine reading weekend, but I left one of my magazines (Inside Lacrosse - it has an article on the Iroquois Nationals' inability to participate in this year's World Cup) at the office. So instead I may push to finish reading Dracula. Kind of appropriate for October anyway.