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I'm definitely on a September roll of strong movement and ring closure (on my watch) every day. The goal of keeping this up is to undo pressure points and stay flexible and strong and yet, here I am pressuring myself to keep the routine going! We are a strange species...

So, early in the morning, I step out, sweatshirt zipped up (because it is autumn-cold outside!), feed the animals, throw a glance at the garden...

... and along with Ed, set out on a bike loop. Nothing unusual, nothing too demanding (45 minute total), but the cool air and the brisk wind really got us going! With a pause to admire the Sandhills...

... and to appreciate the strong colors on Lake Waubesa.

Breakfast follows. Inside, because a snug kitchen beats a cool porch.

In the time that follows, I read a whole bunch of stuff on Gertrude Stein. There was a time when I admired her writing, but I knew little about her last years of life and since I know there's going to be an exhibition featuring, among other things, her life and work, and most likely I will be attending the exhibition (later in the season), I decided to fill in some blanks.

Here's the thing: how do you look at art, how do you read literature, when you know that the artist or author lead a life and had allegiances to people of dubious merit? I remember a while back reading about Monet (whose art I've always found to be dreamlike and beautiful) and learning that he had really worked his kids hard in his gardens, giving them jobs they hated. Does that give you pause when you look at his paintings from the gardens at Giverny? Similarly, if Gertrude Stein, or for that matter any other artist/author, had personal histories or political allegiances that many would consider troubling, do you let that creep into your judgment of their art (or writing)? 

I'm thinking about it and am sure to return to this in October, after I've seen the exhibition.

In the afternoon I pick up the two older kids. The young one had already been asking if vacation is around the corner. The older one is more at home in the classroom, being nearly at the end of her elementary school years. 

(today, they find each other in the "car line")

Are we establishing solid routines here at the farmhouse yet? Gettin' there. 

In the evening I pick up some take-out Laotian food. One of those things -- I read an article reminding me of how good that food can be and I could not resist. I am easily swayed by the written word. Ed is amused.

A crisp day, a pretty day. May this autumn hand us many exactly like it!