September Small Things

“All the months are crude experiments, out of which the perfect September is made.” Virginia Woolf

I can relate to Virginia Woolf’s love of September. There is something so beautifully fresh about this month. Nature starts doing new things, gently, with an air of wisdom. There are the cool mornings and evenings; the gentle light and darker nights; the bright colours of turning leaves and berries; mushrooms in the grass; moths at the window; geese in flight; conkers and pine cones; rain and rainbows. I suppose I am writing all the Autumn clichés, things that I myself have written dozens of times before, but this season always feels like it needs to be savoured.

Last week was our first full week in our new routine; there was a sense of purpose but also of easing ourselves in. At work, I took a box of Autumn themed resources for my new class. They seemed to enjoy the colours and listening to the crunch of the leaves, but there is nothing that can replicate in a classroom the crisp air and earthy scents of the woods at this time of year. I played guitar badly to them (they didn’t seem to mind) and I got to know some of the things they like and dislike, their sense of humour, and how to tell if they are getting tired. It is all new and a work in progress, but there’s a lot of joy in with the focus and the learning and the tiredness.

My family and I all did our best to get the hang of our new classes and routines, and we were exhausted by the end of the week. A weekend of hunkering down was called for: cosy, Autumn days, with small walks not far from home, baking and reading on the sofa. Which sounds peaceful, but there were also the inevitable moments of chaos, conflict and minor trauma. These are part of adoptive/send parenting, and I mention them briefly here, to be real, and to make others in similar situations feel less alone.

This term, I am working hard on looking after myself and my family, so I thought I would share some of the small things that have been helping us with that.

Journalling has been giving me a safe space to write and decompress, and it helps me to find direction, comfort, hope and joy. Midnight Crumbs by Hannah Bay, on Substack, offers some great prompts, like these for September. I have also been creating my own “Joy Journal” prompts, linking to my book, The Joy Scrapbook. I used the first set myself yesterday. It was fun to journal about songs I love. I focused on Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. It is a playful song, like a rom-com in music form, and it fills me with nostalgia and dreams.

I have been reading a few books at once. The Women, by Kristin Hannah, has been recommended to me by so many people. It took me a few attempts to get into it, but now I am so invested in the characters, especially protagonist Frankie. She goes to be a combat nurse in Vietnam after losing her brother to the war there. It is sad to read about the Vietnam war, and even sadder to read it now, when the US is again being led so poorly, when racism is still so prevalent there, and when it is embroiled in another questionable war. Nevertheless, the book is full of compassion, spirit, and the quiet heroism of hard work and strong friendships.

I have also been reading How God Sees Women, by Terran Williams, which is brilliant, but a slow burn. It is a sensitive subject for me as I navigate my path as a feminist and a Christian. Sadly, there is so much about the treatment of women by religious people over the centuries that is deeply frustrating, wrong and abusive. This is a book that dismantles, systematically and graciously, the beliefs and traditions that continue to support the patriarchy. As such, it is a much needed but difficult read. I continue to have so many questions – and strong feelings – about this issue.

I am still quite new to the world of audiobooks, but I am listening to The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, by V.E Shwab. I love the poetic writing style, am fascinated by the premise, and wondering which way the plot is going to go. At times, it has felt a touch slow, perhaps because I am listening rather than reading, but I do love letting the words wash over me as I do dishes or tidy up. Certainly, this is a story to get lost in.

I also made an Autumn playlist, here (it is best listened to on Shuffle, if you decide to follow that link).

I have been doing a lot of baking and cooking. Making bread and soup and brownies seems to soothe my nervous system and the children’s. Some old, faithful recipes have come out again: brownies from a village recipe book that I have used for years; the rosemary focaccia from my old fair trade book, and well-practised soups, using lots of fresh herbs.

What do you love about this time of year? What is keeping you going at the moment?