Canyons

It's hard to believe that summer is coming to an end. Although it's not officially fall until the end of September, apple-picking season begins in late August up here in the midwest, and that's when it really feels like time is passing and seasons are changing.

We went to visit a grouping of canyons in Illinois called Starved Rock. Even though it was a warm summer day when we went, the recent storm brought down many yellow leaves, as well as some sturdy pines. There were areas that were blocked off due to fallen trees, and in some areas the ground was covered so thick with pines that it smelled like winter. 

I read an article recently about ways to cope with this new sense of ennui that 2020 is giving everyone. It's a really hard year. Emotionally, I feel like I've come to terms with us just doing our best. We have each other, that's truly all I need. Mentally, I've been looking for ways to help with that part. What's been working for me? Mostly, cooking and reading. I started a long book, and getting lost in that world has really helped me. I've started so many books this year and none seemed to hold my interest for long. I've got a book that I've dived into, and it's a classic, a slow read, with simple stories, so it doesn't give me any additional anxiety that we all know we don't need. 

I've also spent the last month cooking and baking, a lot. I've always liked to. But this time, it's daily. Each day I'm either cooking or baking something different. There's our typical weekly salmon, my daily salads, but dinners are different most evenings. Of course, we still order out about weekly - which gives me a "day off" and lets us support our favorite restaurants in the little way that we can. But the cooking, the ritual of reading a recipe, setting up my mise en place, a curious Dottie coming over to help or to taste... it's been a lovely little routine that feels slow and simple - like the book I'm reading. 

In a world where there is so much stimulation on all of our sense right now, where we need to focus on so much social change, having the rest of my life be slow and simple creates balance.