a new rhythm ...

This is the first autumn season in a long time where nothing new or life-changing is on the horizon. Last fall I was preparing to have a baby and the one before that I was starting a new job, and the one before that was spent acclimating to internship and finishing my dissertation. But this fall is just me and some familiar routines (i.e. jobs I've been doing for a while and some semblance of order in the rest of my life). Nemo is big enough to be ready to explore areas of our city or simply run errands around town. She's also getting into a schedule, aka slightly more predictable (though now that I wrote that it will change tomorrow). So this fall I'm looking forward to crisp weather and making applesauce. But mostly I'm looking forward to simply living without any major tasks on the docket.

That isn't to say that I haven't been considering all the projects I'd like to finish around the house and professionally. There are always plenty of things to do! MSD would tell you that I've always got five more things planned than I have time to complete. But for the first time in a long time I feel more ready to slowly tackle them at whatever pace I need to. Maybe it's having passed the licensing exam and feeling free of that worry hanging over my head, perhaps it's the great rest we had on vacation in Montana that is re-energizing me for the school year ahead. I know that it's partly to do with MSD being done with his tenure process and his simply going into a school year not burdened by extraneous projects. Things feel a bit simpler, more low key and for that I'm grateful.

I do have to teach several classes this fall, two of which are new preps. So that will take time and energy to manage and prepare for well. But even there, I know the institutions as I've taught at them before and I know the material since I've just been through a lot of it again in preparation for the licensing exam. It's nice to feel as though there is not some big looming newness out there that I have to ready myself for.

So a new rhythm is at work here in our house, my hope is that it plays for a long time. I am looking forward to the events of fall and beyond that to the holidays. Perhaps it's because we are both teachers but autumn always feels like a fresh start and a new beginning (even though from a calendar perspective it's really the end of the year). Here's to all the crisp fall weather ahead of us!