Hello, gentle readers! Hope you are all well and staying safe!
Whoooo-hoooo! It’s Autumn! I love this time of
year! It means I have survived the blistering heat of another Arizona summer.
There’s a briskness in the air, especially in the early mornings. Days are
getting a little shorter. No, the leaves don’t change color in Phoenix and I
miss seeing that, but one only needs to take a short drive up north to see those
fabulous colors. It means the holidays are coming up, too (my
favorite is Thanksgiving. What’s yours?)
It also means that it’s time for fall cleaning—you
know, that deep cleaning that’s far beyond the usual. Yes, I still do this (a
carry-over from when I was young and helped my grandparents do their spring and
fall cleaning. The windows get washed (which includes those blasted mini-blinds
that seem to be in every window of my house…regular dusting/vacuuming of them
just doesn’t quite do the trick), drapes get changed from the lighter, filmier
ones of spring to the heavier ones for winter. The walls get washed (which is a
kind of hassle because everything needs to come down then put back up).
Cabinets get conditioned (again, regular washing just doesn’t quite do the
trick). All the books come down from the built-in book shelf, too (they are
dusted weekly but dusting doesn’t get into the little nooks and crannies).
Yes, I know. I might be a little insane, but
it’s tradition and I just can’t seem to help myself (those lessons and traditions
learned at a very young age are so ingrained, one just can’t ignore them).
I’m also not as young as I used to be though
so doing all this takes time…a lot of time. I used to take the week of
Thanksgiving off (I also take a week in spring) and do everything, including
cook and bake for that Thanksgiving meal, but I’m older now and don’t have as
much energy so…everything that needs to be done gets done in increments, room
by room over several weekends.
And I started this weekend after meeting some friends for lunch. I’m tired already,
but that’s okay. It's one of those things that needs to be done.
Oh, and I still need to find time to write. It’s not a problem
though as I usually write between 4:30am and 6:00am, my usual routine that I’ve
been doing for years (before I head in to the day job). The book I’m working on right now, the third in the Wives
of Bravado County series, is giving me fits (how many corners can I write myself into?)
but I will persevere.
Stay well! Stay safe! Remember to spread
kindness wherever you go! And happy Autumn!
Marie
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