Better Living Through Literature
Words + Projects + Stuff I Like
It’s not fall yet (it’s going to be 103 today, yikes) but it is September and the Autumn of Ease and Abundance is just around the corner, I can feel it. So I spent the long weekend practicing for it: sitting streamside in Millcreek, starting a quilt, watching Toby show us how it’s done.
Having a week off was SO NICE, my friends: We celebrated my dad’s birthday with pies I made; I went to a fabric store with a friend; showed another friend the magic of sergers; organized and cleaned so much; and ended up at Bear Lake yesterday with our nephew.
Is there a way to keep life like this while also being able to afford food to eat and a roof over our head? I think I want to find out.
I have very few pictures for my time off but a lot happened, not all of it great: I stained the deck but didn’t get new outdoor cushions made (or a trip swimsuit); I saw a lot of friends but also had to log in to work to write an “emergency” email and manage a “crisis” about a tradeshow booth; I did my quick trip to Lava Hot Springs but worried about Toby for most of it, since we heard from the vet about his second blood test and he does indeed have feline diabetes.
So I also added “read all about treatment, schedule a vet tech appointment to learn how to do the injections, and visit a compounding pharmacy to pick up a cat-sized vial of insulin” to the list for my time off. The appointment and first injection is tomorrow and I’m hopeful that he’ll start improving really soon.
Anyway, here’s a picture of a waffle from a place in Lava Hot Springs called “Lava Waffle,” which has been repeating itself in my head since yesterday. “Lavawaffle… lavawaffle… lavawaffle…”
It rained most of the weekend here, which meant that outside chores were off the agenda (aw shucks) and inside relaxing was on it.
I didn’t even go to the gym (!)–the biggest outing of the weekend was a trip to JoAnn for some zippers and some supplies for new outdoor cushions, which Toby graciously tested out for us.
What a nice weekend, though. A lot of the time I forget to really rest, but it’s wonderful.
I probably am too fond of fancy hotels for as much as I say, “Eat the rich!” but they are just so gracious. You are polite, the staff is polite, and if you want something and ask nicely it just…happens. Life is easy in a fancy hotel (if you have money, of course, in which case life is probably easy regardless).
Anyway. I’ve been wanting to take my nephew to Easter brunch for two years now and we finally made it happen yesterday. We were a week early but the buffet had pastel macarons and the flowers in the courtyard were blooming and it felt like a proper celebration.
(Can you believe this kid is going to be eleven in a couple weeks?! I cannot.)
I got stir-crazy in January but heading out of town to somewhere warm just didn’t feel doable yet. Good thing I remembered our favorite hot springs are open year-round and make their own warmth.
Doc has Tuesdays off so we headed up yesterday and it was pretty perfect: Snow falling gently, steam rising, swans going by down the river. 
Of course, now that I’m all about feats of strength, I had to try the cold plunge…in the river. Which isn’t warm even in the summer.
That’s me yeeting myself right back out but I did it–twice! Up to my neck! I think the Scandinavians might be on to something.
The weather has been lovely in the valley–sunny, with the trees still pretty colorful. We went to the local arboretum yesterday to enjoy the sun and the trees…and to see an orchid show that their calendar of events promised. There were no orchids anywhere (we never did find out when it was actually supposed to be) but we saw grasses and autumn crocus and a very Bob Ross waterfall. Definitely not a wasted trip.
We had some good weather yesterday and hadn’t done anything with our nephew in a while, so we spent an afternoon at a local…Halloween/fall extravaganza? Its official name is “Kuwahara’s Pumpkin Patch & Thriller Park,” it had the production values of your local high school theater class, and it was great.
(In fairness to the production values, I think a lot of it was meant to be seen at night, with people popping out from the pumpkins to scare you, but I liked it during the day.)
As aunt and uncle, we’re contractually obliged to buy Skyler whatever he wants on these outings, and this time he wanted a 42-pound pumpkin. This is why I work out.
The fall colors, that is. We went up Millcreek for a bit yesterday and it’s almost at Peak Color.
That water is colder than ever, too (I still went wading).
I haven’t had a chunk of time off since…last year? so it was really nice to have a whole week. We went on two hikes, hung wallpaper (!), cooked different sides (!!) for solo Thanksgiving, started The Mandalorian, and put up the Christmas tree. (And, you know, sat on the couch a lot and looked at the internet, too.)
