Speaking of odds and ends a lot of loose ones got tied up this week. We did a deep clean on Sunday and it was both a literal and figurative fresh start for us. Autumn arrived dark and early on Monday morning with rain beating against the windows and a bevy of freshly fallen leaves on the deck. A large pot of coffee was made and the day began. There was working and cooking and a lot of playing on the floor. A lot of laughter and clapping and the sound of Belle's paws against the floor as she skittered away from Birdie. By the afternoon the rain let up and the sun peeked out ever so slightly over the tree tops. In the mean time the wind had picked up and gusts would carry leaves up and then sprinkle them gently from overhead. The temperatures dropped all day long and by nightfall I had to turn on the floor board heaters in Birdie's room to keep her warm at night. They rattled and hissed for a good hour as they came alive from their summer hiatus. In our bedroom we opened the window all the way and dug ourselves deep under the covers with only our noses out to feel the chill that would settle over the room by morning.
Then on Tuesday we drove to Target to pick up some super exciting items like toilet paper and water and we marveled at the gorgeous sunset but also at the fact that it was getting dark earlier and earlier. Birdie was fussing a lot in the car but once we put her in the cart she really perked up, must be something in the air at Target... Like mother like daughter I suppose. I'm usually running these errands by myself so it was nice to have papa bear along with us for this trip. The store was somewhat empty and we lazily made our way through the aisles. Birdie took a special liking to an older gentleman and reached out her hand and gave him the biggest, toothiest grin she could muster and it was just about the sweetest thing I've ever seen. But somewhere between the pet aisle and the deodorant aisle the smiling stopped and we were just at the tip of a meltdown so we hurried through to the cash registers and made our way to the car. It was somewhat jarring how cold it had become in the half an hour that we were in the store and I popped a hat on Birdie's head that she promptly removed (she hates anything on her head at the moment) and basically the next twenty minutes or so were an experiment in just how many items she could fling onto the floor of the car. In desperation I searched for the Russian "sleepy time" cartoon I always play for her and let her watch it on my phone (perhaps more than once, perhaps more than twice...). She started to calm down and after I tucked a blanket around her she fell asleep. The car was quiet and I whispered to papa bear that she looked so cute in her hat, even if it rarely stayed on for more than a minute. We made it out of town and onto the road through the farmlands and everything became dark except for the occasional headlight of an oncoming car here and there. And I just felt at peace. The freshly mowed hills acquired a color of deep purple that melted into navy where the earth met the sky. The yellow glow of lamps coming on inside cozy farmhouse windows draped in lace would occasionally reflect ever so slightly on papa bear's cheek.
Half an hour later our car crawled it's way up the bumpy road to our house. We stepped out and my boots crunched leaves underfoot all the way to the front door and my arm ached from the weight of a sleepy babe in my arms. We were home.