Moscow Sunsets

Turkey, Off the Grid

We were invited to spend Thanksgiving with some friends at their cabin on Lake Coeur d'Alene.  In a tiny little cabin filled with the noise of laughter, we weren't really off the grid for Thanksgiving, since we had electricity and plumbing.  But we didn't have wireless or cell phone service, so the kids had to entertain themselves the old fashioned way...playing Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders, Battleship, and Uno.  Oh, and they had to do really boring things such as go on hikes and canoe rides and all bunk out together.  We ate really, really well on a locally raised turkey and all the fixings (have you ever heard of Mama Stamberg's Relish)?!?

Perfect.

 

Getting Ready for Fall

Even though fall has been decidedly here for several weeks, we spent some time this weekend "getting ready for fall."  We went around the neighborhood and found pretty leaves and dipped them in paraffin wax to make a garland.  We dug up the carrots and planted the garlic.  And of course, we went to cyclocross races.  Fall.  We're ready!

Leaf garland...unfortunately it matches the brick colors almost perfectly!

Getting ready to work in the garden

Who says red and green and yellow don't go together?

The willows, looking pretty.

A rainy day for cycling...

 

Date Weekend, CX Style

We spent the weekend in Walla Walla, along with many members of our "cyclocross family"--i.e. the folks from all over the Inland Northwest who brave rain, snow, wind, and, rarely, heat, to travel long miles for an hour or two of suffering.  The weather was classically unpredictable, true to cross style, but we did catch a glimpse of fall color.  

Even though the venues are the same, each time, each race, is still unique.  Life gets in the way, so it's a different mix of "regulars" each time.  The courses change.  The weather changes, often several times in a day!  This year, my husband and I are feeling even more a part of the group.  People know us, they asked where are son was, and they laughed and teased us when we said we were on a date.  I didn't have to be the mom up at 4 am--though there was one of those!--and we could sleep in late.  Awesome!  We got to act like grown-ups and go wine tasting and have a nice dinner out.  We bumped into other friends at breakfast.  All of us are on different trajectories, from college students to empty nesters.  But we all do this crazy thing every fall and support each other.

Of course, the only thing about being "known" is that people are starting to ask me when I'm going to race....   

The Edge of the Season

We went to our last Farmer's Market of the 2012 season.  For me, the end of market truly marks the turning of the year from one into the next.  Each of the last seasons have been unique.  I read a blog post once (and if I could remember where, I would cite it!) that said having a child takes you out of the comfortable life you've created for yourself and moves you to new, uncharted, and much more turbulent, territory.  The emotional highs are higher, and the lows are far lower.  I would add that each year is also a new adventure.  You're getting to know a new person, and they're getting to know themselves.  They learn to do new things, and you adjust your roles and your relationship.  Your relationship with your partner, and your family as a unit, also evolves.  I've gone from wearing my baby, to pushing the stroller, to having him follow me as we go about our Saturday morning market routine.  This year, for all but about two Saturdays, we biked to the market and loaded up the trailer with our produce for the trip home.  Next year, will he be riding his bike alongside mine?

Our Indian Summer is over now, and we are really into fall.  We had our first fire in the wood stove this morning to take the chill off the night.  We are at the edge of the old season.  We are at the beginning of the new.  I'm a little sad, because this year has been so great.  So many fun adventures, so much laughing.  

So it helps to remember that the adventures are not over, and time is really more circular than linear.  We can't always see what's around the next corner, but we often circle back to places of familiarity, even amidst change. And if we're really lucky in life, we have a great circle of friends with whom we can share the adventure!

Finding our way out of the University of Idaho Corn Maze at dusk...lovely!

The Colors of Fall

Once, when she was here at the end of summer, my mother remarked "these are the colors I know how to paint."  She said this as we drove around the Palouse.  A Kansas girl, she meant, of course, the gold of the wheat, the blue of the sky, and the white of the clouds.  Today the clouds were more grey than white, but in the morning, the clouds occasionally gave way to bright spots shining down like gold on the fields.

We spent the morning at Bishop's Orchard in Garfield, WA.  Red and gold and green.  As my four year old neighbor reported, the "apples have glitter on them" -- drops of rain leftover from last night, the first rain we've had in three months. 

Honestly, fall, when we have it, is there anything more delicious?

Goodbye, September

This post may be somewhat random.  So many thoughts going through my head.  I think the fall does that to me.  Even though I hate the end of summer, and dread the cold, dark period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I do love fall.  I love the cool that comes in the evening, the breeze with a hint of change, and the leaves rustling on the ground.  Not that we have many of them out west (leaves, that is).  

I bogged down somewhat in the garden.  I think I am waiting for it to rain, and it doesn't, so I just forget about the garden.  Every year, it feels like one of three things happens to everything in the garden:  1) it completely underperforms--this would describe my onions to a T this year; 2) I get the impression that if I had only helped it a little bit more then I would have had an awesome crop--I feel my squash fits into this grouping; or 3) I am overpowered by the shear awesomeness of its production--my tomatoes and blackberries fit this category.  In the five years we've owned this house, my blackberry vines have never done as well.  I'm not sure if it was the cool, wet spring, or the fact that they received windfall water from watering the yard, or if they were just excited to be near the sandbox, but I have picked for weeks.  I wasn't even planning on making jam this year, but I am going to make some blackberry jam now!!  And don't get me started on the tomatoes.  I can't keep up with them--salsa and canning and fresh oh my!

But on the other hand, cyclocross is ramping up!  And we've been able to enjoy so many of those lovely fall evenings (despite the dust and smoke from want of rain)!  I took these pictures on Wednesday night...the last one is my favorite!

Smokey, Dusty Days

As much as I love September, around here it does seem to be kind of a dirty time of year.  We typically don't get much (any) rain in July and August, and until it rains in September it just seems to get dustier and dustier.  Harvest dust and forest fire smoke contribute to the overall griminess. It's also about this time of year that I just kind of get tired of watering...and thus forget.  So everything just seems dry, dry, dry.

But of course there is always the harvest!  I've been getting a ton of tomatoes, and supplemented with some from the Farmer's Market to can.  The blackberries this year are AMAZING, and I made a pie from them for a party on Saturday.  The pie wasn't terribly photogenic, but when smothered with ice cream it disappeared fast!

Despite the dryness, and the dust, it's still a beautiful time of year here. Fall on the Palouse really is lovely, all things considered!

And Summer Slips into Fall...

Fall was in the air this weekend!  It makes me both a little happy, and a little sad! 

 

A Snowy Conclusion to Cross Season

The Inland Northwest Cyclocross Series ended yesterday, with much fanfare and camaraderie.  Of course there are still races in Bend, OR and Nationals, but for our family, the season is over for another year.  I admit I am sad we have reached the conclusion, although my husband informed me that he was not sad he didn't need to get on his bike today to train.  

It was a lot of work, this cyclocross season.   It was a lot of work for my husband to train and compete, a lot of work to drive all around Washington and Idaho, a lot of work to figure out how to kill to two hours at the course prior to the race so that my husband could complete his pre-race routine, a lot of work to figure out how to take pictures, wrangle children, and ring cow bells simultaneously.

But it was totally worth it.

Apple orchard rows make good cyclocross courses at the next-to-last race in the series!

Just a light dusting of snow for this race--enough to ensure complete carnage.

Pumpkins line the course at Walter's Fruit Ranch

Four to five inches of new snow awaited us in Coeur d'Alene Sunday.

It's a good thing the tape is blue--all the better to see it in the snow!