Darn it, I swear I’m going to write more, be present, and then time gets away from me and I realize I AM being present, just not here.
All year long, people here in southern Sweden have been exclaiming in wonder about the weather. The sunshine, the blue skies, the perfect temperatures. It was a perfect spring, a fantastic summer and now a stunningly gorgeous fall. The leaves on the trees outshine the sun in a revolving spectrum of all the best colors nature’s got on offer. It’s hard to keep your eyes on the road when you’re driving, as your attention in constantly being drawn to a flame-tinged tree, a line of bright bushes, the singing colors of autumn. Martin commented the other day, after I said something about how beautiful the variegated colors of the hedges here: striped in yellow, orange, red and green, that they reminded him of sushi rainbow rolls. Ha! He was right and we had to have some for dinner tonight in honor of another beautiful fall day.
Last night we had Wonders (minus one) and Angie, our hostess this month, served up the most amazing meal that went straight to the top ten of the best meals I have ever eaten. Delicious, creamy butternut squash soup followed by tender roast chicken with roasted almond potatoes with a mix of vegetables on a bed of ruccola. It was SO GOOD. She had made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for dessert, but didn’t have enough red food coloring, so they ended up just being brown velvet, but every bit as tasty.
I need these kinds of weekends…I crave them all week long, and I can’t wait until they come and I can nestle down into them and savor every second.
This morning, I was reminded by an acquaintance that the Stångby Art and Handicraft Fair was taking place. I went years ago with my mom and Martin, just by chance having found out about it. I’ve missed it every year since, but today I bribed Martin to go with me and called up my friend Camilla and basically kidnapped her to go along, too. It was great…2 people I know were exhibiting (one with silver jewelry and one with stylish pewter work (jewelry, candlesticks, serving pieces), and as we left the hall, a woman behind the table near the entrance stopped me and turned out to be our neighbor; she had a table full of jewelry and ceramics, too.
I bought several things but none of them were for me: Christmas presents every one! Making progress, even though it’s early, and that makes me happy, too.
I finished an excellent book this morning, and plan on devouring everything else the author has published…it was Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach. Good stuff! Martin and I have also hit the Aaron-Sorkin-less second half of The West Wing oeuvre and it’s just as painful the second time around.
The wind was picking up as the sun was starting to sink…a sign that most of the foliage will probably be hitting the ground in the next few days. I hope it was enough to sustain me through the winter. I have lots of things on my anticipation calendar; that will help, too: Thanksgiving, my mom’s visit for Christmas, my brother’s second child coming in December, getting Martin’s driver’s license permit…EEK!
Maybe I’ll just stick to admiring the trees while I can. Because soon I’ll be having to keep my eyes on both the road AND the driver!