October 1, 2009

October 1, 2009

 

Some people write Christmas letters. I kind of envy them. They sit down, pour out a couple hundred words and send them off to everyone they’ve ever met and are done with it.

That’s right. They send one letter. In December, of all things.

I, on the other hand, have chosen a slightly more difficult path. Welcome to October.

It’s been a year since we all last met. What a year it has been, but I’m going to ask you all to focus on the topic at hand: October.

It was the fall of 1994 when this all began, in a blue Ford van circling Lake Michigan. It was 1998 when I finally caught up with the technology that has brought these Thoughts to you all. This year, we’re changing it up again. Instead of the daily email, I’m going to post to my blog at http://octoberthoughtspdx.blogspot.com.

I know this is a huge change for some of you, so if you freak out and want to still get a daily email, just pop me a message and I’ll add you to that list.  Simple enough.

October is so many things. For me, for these last fifteen years, it has been a time to share with friends, contemplate all things Martha, to eat things I shouldn’t eat and, most importantly, create this magic October community.

We all have our own vision of what October is. For those of us still living our lives by the academic calendars of our respective schools, it’s probably just about the time when things settle into a predictable routine. For the sports fans, it’s the switch from baseball to football. For the crafters, it’s time to glue autumn leaves to any and every flat surface.

Wherever you fall in this October Spectrum, it’s time to savor every minute because, if there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years, it’s that 31 days rally isn’t enough time to contain all that is October.

Ready, set, go!