I think Fall must be God's favorite season. He's made it so beautiful, so much more beautiful than any other season. Then again, I may be a little bit biased, having grown up in the most beautiful part of the country. I can't help it. Oregon is, in my fairly well-traveled opinion, unrivaled.
The month of October always makes me want to get up earlier, I want to catch the first rays of the Autumn sun as it peeks frail and golden over the roofs of the houses and distant mountains. I want to cuddle up with a cup of tea as the day's first spell of rain comes rolling through. I want to take a walk and breathe deeply in the crisp, cinnamon air and observe the first leaves that begin to fall from their treetop homes. I want to spend the majority of my days reading, thinking, writing, and surviving solely on cups of tea and pieces of toast. Candles are meant to be lit all day long during the month of October, they start in the morning and don't stop until late at night. The music plays soft and soothing. Nat King Cole and Linda Ronstadt make up my Autumn playlist, and Gillian Welch Pandora.
My hands smell like burnt matches. God, I love this season.
October is also a good month for learning things. I learned last week that witnessing one person's good deed can change your entire perspective on how your day has been. I know, I know. Story time.
I was at work one night, after a long day of feeling lowly and alone, miserable and so far from my dreams, that I could hardly even distract myself with the busy hustle and bustle at work. I'm getting better at dealing with business on auto-pilot.
It was drawing near to the end of my shift, the rush had settled and there I was, standing at the counter, dappling in self-pity and contemplation. I noticed a homeless man, or, I assumed he was homeless, digging through the garbage can outside of the restaurant. I felt some pity for the man, for whatever had driven him to such desperate ends. I continued rolling my silverware. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that my boss, Travis, was staring at the assumed-homeless man, too. He looked like he was weighing something heavily on his mind.
Wordlessly, he turned around and grabbed a to-go bowl and filled it to the brim with fresh, hot soup. After taking a lid, a napkin, and a plastic soup spoon with him, he ventured outside and handed it to the man.
I've never seen one act of such single, solitary kindness before in my life. And I always thought I was a kind person, or that I've been surrounded by kind people. I have, this is still true, but I've still never seen such concentrated kindness in another person before. I realized as I was going home that night, what I had witnessed completely changed my day. It had become one of the best days I've ever lived, because my faith in the goodness of everyday people was restored. I've always been an idealist, and I look for the good in people, and that day, I found it. Or, it found me. That was on October 2nd.
Amongst other things that I've been meaning to blog about but haven't really pinned down, Becca came into town this past weekend for her birthday. She brought me a typewriter. Becca is a sort of Garage Sale Goddess, and picked up a circa 1960 Olympia typewriter for fifteen bucks, because she knew about my lifelong desire to own one. What a gal! I've named my pretty new pet Athena, because she is the Olympian Goddess of Wisdom, and I like to think that wisdom and inspiration are pretty close to the same thing. I've since cleaned, and scrubbed, and oiled Athena to the best of my typewriter-ignorant abilities, and she turned out to be a beautiful shade of aqua, instead of the seafoam-y green we thought she was. Years of dirt and weathering in a barn will do that, I guess. Still, she runs like a machine, and has hardly any signs of extreme wear and tear, which is impressive considering how old she is. However, just to be sure, I plan on taking her to a typewriter expert sometime soon, so he can look her over, give me the general history, model type, and cleaning and care information. The ribbon she came with, who knows how old it is, works amazingly well, though, and I've already gotten a good hour and a half's worth of typing out of her.
Antiquity has an extreme sort of power over inspiration, I'm discovering. I've been suffering from an unfortunate case of writer's block on my fairytale I started about a year ago, and as soon as I sat down to my typewriter, shut off my laptop and my music, I pounded out a good 3 pages in an hour. I was pretty excited about that.
A friend told me yesterday that she heard a story on the news about a young girl, who faked being pregnant for a high school project, is now in possession of a book deal, and a movie in the works on Lifetime. I would just like to take the time right now and say: WHERE IS MY BOOK DEAL??
I did the same thing for my psychology case study project in high school two years ago. I'd put money down on the fact that she's not half the writer I am, either, and I'm not a betting woman. (Which is exactly what my friend said, too. Although she's more of a betting woman than I am.) I analyze risk too much.
One day, one of us will be recognized for our talents, I'm sure of it. And one day, I told her, Kate Winslet will play me on Broadway.
I've been attempting my second journey into Jane Austen, lately. Sense and Sensibility, to be exact. Everytime I venture into the realm of Austen, the desire to use words like 'rudimentary' and 'implicit' and 'asenine' in everyday conversation consumes me. I think in a 19th century English accent.
Halloween is vastly approaching. And once again, I have no idea what I'm supposed to dress up as. I've been invited to a Halloween Harvest Party thing, and even though I am really excited to go, my spirits dropped a little bit when I saw the "COSTUMES ARE REQUIRED" sign on the FB event. Great. Halloween is a fine enough Holiday to me, I don't really mind it, it's not my favorite, but it doesn't really bother me either. Except for this whole adults dressing up thing. Let's leave it for the kids, shall we? I mean, really. So I've been trying to think of costume ideas that will take little or no effort on my part to contrive, and this is what I've come up with:
- A Lit Major- this involves khakis, a button up blouse paired with argyle sweater, and TOMS.
- Barefoot and Pregnant- This is more involving than I'd like it to be.
- "Hopeless"- this involves my Star Wars shirt, a pair of acid wash jeans from the nearest Goodwill, and if possible, a Mickey Mouse watch. And probably tennishoes.
Feeble and unstimulating, I know, but that is as far as my creative genius will go in order to match with my willingness of cooperation.
Did you know that Esther had to wait one whole year before going before King Xerxes as a Queenly Prospect?
One whole year in complete and utter suspension. I am amazed and inspired by her strength of character.
One whole year in complete and utter suspension. I am amazed and inspired by her strength of character.
Wishing you all the love, Fall Weather and chocolate chips in the world,
Hannah,
Xx
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