blessed beyond measure

We have spent our October doing our very favoritest things. The weather has been classic Virginia. Starting off all-out summer, then practically overnight changing to fall. Lo and behold, a great many of the leaves are brilliant red and yellow, making for some breathtaking drives through the woods. Frigid in the mornings, comfortably warm in the afternoons, and a bit chilly in the evenings. Picture perfect. Brandon started things off with a bang by traveling up to Charlottesville and scoring some quality actual face time with one of his heroes, Tony Bennett. Like a kid at Christmas he's been, throwing random Tonyisms out in mid-conversation and talking about him like they are best buddies. It's cute, but from an integrity standpoint and a faith standpoint and a cough- looks -cough standpoint, um, my man couldn't have found himself a better role model. We hiked a new trail in the state park. It was still warm out, but we apparently forgot about earlier sunset, tha...

Before we get into anything, let's just go ahead and name the elephant in the room, shall we? Just so the three or four of us are on the same page, no fronts or ignorance. His name is mid-life crisis, and from the way things are going, he's likely to visit me more than once. We good? So a few years ago I wrote a tribute to the wonder that is hay . In a move that surprised me not in the least, my dad responded promptly with an invitation to help him with getting up hay anytime I'd like. As long as I can remember, poor thing has spent a month of Sundays at least twice a year on the hay. With no volunteers from the household. Sometimes adulting is hard, y'all. Well, it's no secret around here that I've been in a funk for a long time. The health journey is making a huge difference. But it was on the way home from church on a Sunday, "November Rain" playing on the radio, that the image of myself riding a tractor popped into my head. Yes, I know ...

We've stumbled upon this phase where the boys are fairly independent and, from certain angles, no longer require constant entertainment provided by their mother. The years have indeed gone by quickly, but the entertaining was an endless, exhausting privilege. The flip side is that I have found more time on my hands. It's not boredom. I just have no stinkin clue what to do with myself. Spent so long beguiling boys, I forgot how to just be me. Twelve years into this Mama business, I don't bat an eyelash at the lists, the worries, the spills, the schedules, the fighting, the smells. It's all a part of the title. But my gigantic babies need me a bit less now. The freedom to roam and actually take a few seconds to look at things - small things you don't notice with your head down, plowing through life - has been amazing. We haven't had acorns in several years. Not sure why. They came back, but they are mostly all small and dark. Even still, they loo...