Friday

Let's take a walk. Nothing ambitious, nothing to feel proud of, but a real walk in a woodsy area so we can listen to the wind and be dazzled by these last days of a visually beautiful fall.

I mean, it's the day for it.

(Also let's chase Dance away from our breakfast routines. She is pesty!)

Having not too much time for that walk pushes us to our local county park. Over by Lake Waubesa. And yes, it is lovely.

These are the last weeks with our visiting birds from the south. In another month they will have left Wisconsin. Hey, they must be enjoying their hiatus here because each year we see and hear more of them in the fields that surround the farmette.

When the year draws toward an end and the growing season is behind us, it's tough not to think always in terms of "lasts." Maybe we should switch our mindsets and talk, instead, in terms of firsts. First days of golden leaves out front. First days of a walk where a scarf feels really good wound tightly around the neck. First time I enter the classrooms of Snowdrop's school.

Hey, how did that happen? Isn't the school closed to outsiders? Well yes, but there was this (fundraiser) book fair and when the little one came out of her school (can you even recognize her? I can!)...

... all she could talk about was making granola parfaits (from a recipe she found in a kid cook book) and buying a book at the fair. 

The fair (held in the school library) was winding down and indeed, all kids had already done the purchasing earlier. Still, she was motivated and we went back into an almost empty school, where she showed me some important markers of her day.

And we bought a book and left.

Back at the farmette -- finally, a few minutes with the season's gold!

The weekend will be full, but there are still some unknowns. It's the way we proceed with everything these days, isn't it? The family will gather, though maybe not all of it because, well, there's this virus, no, not The Virus, but another one making the rounds. Friends will have flown in, a lot of rapid tests have been purchased. Heat lamps have gone up outside where some small gatherings will take place. Yes, it'll be a busy weekend. 

But tonight is quiet here at the farmhouse. Topped off with a shared, expensive chocolate and Grand Designs on the TV screen. Luxury, Ed and Nina style.