October Things
Fall in Germany is one of my favorite things now. The leaves begin changing and hold on to their bright yellows, oranges and reds all the way through mid December which give me so much time to enjoy it. I love the slow roll of it over the quick intensity of the Rocky Mountain Falls I grew up with, and the lack-luster brown falls of the desert living in New Mexico. It feels like I really have a chance to savor it.
We visited Ludwigsburg Palace for the pumpkin festival again this year. I planned ahead for us to visit on a weekday to hopefully avoid the crowds and have more pleasant temperatures than the boiling heat from last year when I went in August…but, I was out of luck. There was no parking in any of the places I knew I could park and my stress/anxiety started kicking up as we drove in circles, without navigation, hoping to find something/anything. Just as Matt was about ready to throw in the towel I spotted a parallel spot off a busy street and zipped right in. The one catch was that we only had two hours of paid parking allowed for the spot! We made sure we had everything from the car we needed, plotted our sprinting path to the entrance, dropped our coins in the machine, and took off!
There would be no time for strolling this year. Having a set time limit drained the crankiness out of the kids and made it a fun race to see everything we wanted to see, and eat the foods we wanted to eat. “You want to go up to Rapunzel’s castle again? Nope, sorry. We did that last year.” We made sure to see all the pumpkin sculptures, eat the seasoned pumpkin fries (which are actually just thinly sliced acorn squash, seasoned with cayenne pepper, fried and served with mayo), and find the pumpkin schorle (soda). Our walk back to the car was a little quicker than usual, but we made it with one minute to spare. Total success.
Everytime I go to Ludwigsburg I wish for more time to explore. Maybe next year!
October brought some sudden news that my uncle’s health was rapidly failing and all of my dad’s living brothers and sisters would be gathering to say goodbye. It is a difficult thing to live so far from family, especially in moments like these. I had to make a quick decision to fly out to see my uncle and this gathering of family now, or wait until the funeral. I decided I wanted to be with them and be able to say goodbye. My Uncle Reed did so much for me and I am grateful for him and his family. I was grateful to Matt for picking up all the home responsibilities in addition to his work while I was away and wished we could have all gone. It was special, though, to have it just be me. I cannot think of another time when I have had this kind of one-on-one time with my parents and siblings. It was immensely special and felt close to heaven.
My mom made sure to share with me where important papers and family history binders were kept, what things were. She is remarkable in her lifelong awareness of the importance of histories and records of family and has done thousands upon thousands of hours of work. I am grateful she has taken the time, too, to record the efforts that all this work has taken over generations. I am aware of the many sacrifices that have been made, and know that I will someday be the steward of these things. I will need to pass on this appreciation of the weight of these lives and how we are connected.
Other things that happened in October:
We watched a solar eclipse in Utah! Special eyewear and all!
Brian received a certificate for a positive office referral at the middle school. This really meant a lot for Matt and I to receive an email and a picture of him, detailing his goodness. He is a special kid and we have spent so much time, and tears, and effort getting things figured out for him so that he can be successful and happy. I have learned so much being his mom and am grateful for him.
Emme learned how to sew her own pajama pants (admittedly, they still need the elastic waistband to be finished)! Nola is next to sew her own together.
I took so many pictures of pretty corners and changing leaves. Lots of little things that brought me joy.
Halloween was a huge success with more candy collected than ever for Brian and Nola, and even Emme. I hosted the Cake Walk at our church Fall activity with the help of Emme. Matt and I handed out candy to all the base residents until we ran out, and then we enjoyed a spooky meal (mummy dogs were a hit) and watched a scary movie together. It’s always a bit of a bummer when Halloween falls on a Monday, but we made the most of it.
