For many people Halloween is not a time of rest. This year, at our house, it will be a much needed breather. Jadzia is too young for trick-or-treating but we will be attending the Ypsi Library Halloween Event on Friday. Otherwise we will be at home decorating pumpkins, eating autumnal food, and resting in front of the stove. Every weekend for a month we have had some sort of plans or obligation that required or involved going out of town or a party. Sleepovers in Hartland and Commerce, a wedding, my birthday, and Jadzia’s birthday. It has been a whirlwind and we are very much a family that does not thrive on stress or chaos. We are on the less social side, savor meals and yard work together, would rather stay home with the dogs and work on projects than go out. So all of this go go go has been a lesson in how many people in America live their lives. I am impressed! I’ve learned that one of my favorite defining traits about our family is that we find solace in our work. Not necessarily in “real” jobs, but in purposeful, meditative work at home. While we probably could use a cleaning lady or lawn service, we are proud to have neither. We shake our fists in the status quo of homeownership. We will keep our pennies and our pride along with our dog hair and weeds.

I turned 33 years old at the beginning of the month, Jadzia turned 2 this past weekend. Although she isn’t fooling anybody and is secretly a couple years older as we learned at the doctor today she is 37 pounds and 40″ tall putting her at 99.9% for height and 99.7% for weight. We celebrated with family over a big spaghetti dinner on a cool, rainy evening. My mom made the traditional autumn birthday cake: yellow cake with chocolate frosting that my Dad (whose birthday is today) and I always request. I spent my birthday in Ypsi and Ann Arbor attending a class at BloodRoot Herb Shop, getting one last cone from Go! Ice Cream (RIP), and munching on some amazing crispy tacos from Encuentro Latino.

After a few months I finally felt ready to redo my training for Postpartum work. I trained through the Center for the Childbearing Year in 2016 under Patty Brennan for birth and postpartum. I did some doula work for a few years and after Jadzia’s birth was not sure if I could ever return to it again. Many people describe birth work as a calling and I certainly heard that call. I trained under Brennan once again through the Lifespan Doula program. I plowed through the coursework and felt a sense of motivation I haven’t felt in a long time. I was ready to lock down a skill and get certified. I have felt hungry to further my education and learn how to operate as a mother and my own person. Since I had my daughter a year and a half after lockdown it feels like I have been hibernating for three years. I can hear the crocus and hyacinth and dandelions pushing up through the snow, I can feel the warmth of the sun thawing the dirt around me, and I am ready to finally leave this den as a whole new bear. Last week I passed my exam and should shortly receive an official statement and certificate that I am a Certified Postpartum Doula.

In the kitchen we are being thrifty and foraging for what feels like the last time for a very long time. November will still have the rosehips and conifer needles but it will most likely be April before we are eating from the yard again. The last of the garden kale is a beautiful crinkled texture turned blue with frost. We have made several pints of hawthorn and autumn olive juice. I am starting to get the hang of the sourdough game which we will be having tonight with cream of kale soup. The local orchard has “animal” apples that are $8 for a 1/2 bushel. Much to my delight almost every apple was near perfect. I ate about 6 (!), made a dry half gallon of cinnamon apple chips, a half gallon of apple maple butter, and a half gallon of applesauce.

This week we will finally get the garlic in the ground. This was a much missed crop we did not plant last year. Our wood stove has been puttering away in it’s corner for about a week now. We moved the couch into that room and a few good naps have already been had. Steve has been keeping up with cleaning the glass so we can nod off under the hypnosis of orange flames and sparks slithering around the logs. Crisp autumn mornings were always perfect before, but with a wood stove we can watch the smoke creep up out of the chimney against the colorful leaves and our home is dry and sweet smelling. Our couch is 50 years old this year and spent most of it’s life in front of a wood stove. Originally in an A frame cabin built by Steve and his dad up north, then in Matt’s childhood home in Hartland. Moving the couch was supposed to be temporary but it feels like it’s “at home” now.