The Last Sunday Journal: Issue 05
A September and October diary.
Welcome to The Last Sunday Journal. Published on the last Sunday of the month, this newsletter details simple and cozy observations of our life in West Michigan. Pour yourself a cup of something good and settle in. ✉️☕️🍁
The muffin pans sit in my cupboard with bits of baked dough, black and charred, stuck to the bottoms. I vacuum the floors twice a week, as a crawling and curious baby lives in this home along with a large, muddy-pawed dog. And when the sun hits my beautiful windows just right, with the colorful dancing leaves that I stuck there just so, they mingle with every smudge and fingerprint clearly.
My transition from late summer to early fall has been marked by these moments: the richness of living a full life amidst mess and imperfections.
September came into our home warm and soft, and our family spent a lot of time outdoors. We walked to our little downtown to buy a few donuts from the bakery and then coffees from the cafe. We would drive a few minutes down the road to a park and walk some more under the shaded trees and falling leaves. Eden’s hair has grown thick and long, and we marveled at the passing of time as the sun turned another season.
October ushered in the northerly winds of true Michigan fall and a new chapter began. All of our summer clothes needed to be washed and stored away in the cottage attic spaces, and I set to work ordering and thrifting little hats, gloves, a snowsuit, and several sweaters for the baby.
There have been lots of rainy, shivering afternoons in our little town, which has been absolute heaven for me. Eden and I snuggle up in our living room, surrounded by quilts and toys and snacks, while my favorite TV show Gilmore Girls plays softly in the background. When Carole King’s theme track comes on, the baby rushes over to me squealing, and we dance together. We watch the sticks and leaves float down the driveway in a river of raindrops, and stay warm inside with the dog curled up on the couch.
With the inhale of a new season, I’ve also started some new creative projects. This past summer, I started work as a contracted writer for the same nonprofit that my husband works for, and I have continued writing for them throughout this fall.
I enrolled in a six-week poetry cohort and began night classes each week during the past few months. Taking an adult writing class has always interested and intimidated me, and I’m so glad to have taken the plunge.
I’m also working on an exciting new writing project that I hope to share with you in the next week or so! When I’m not working on an article or chasing the baby or catching up on a syllabus or washing a dish, this project has taken up all of my free time. And it’s also brought back a fire into my soul that has been long forgotten.
Until my next winter journal, I’ll leave you with this small autumnal haiku:
A tall pile of leaves we run and jump together a joy colored mess.
