October

   Here in Vermont the leaves are showing off their last bursts of color and cold winds are starting to blow.
   Many traditions will be celebrating days of harvest and for some a new year. 
     How can we adapt to these restrictive times yet maintain our joy for these special days?
     Of course we will be seeing many plague masks this Halloween and other themes to fit this pandemic as well as variations on the protective masks we must wear. The monsters we face this year are all too real. Please listen to science and be safe! 
  The gatherings we have delighted in are now much more intimate with trusted family members and perhaps friends. Social distance events and virtual parties will be happening but these are a hard trade for what we have known and loved. 
      I am myself weary of this 'new normal'. In all honesty this is the most difficult blog entry I have made all year as this season has always been for me a time I looked forward to so much. 
     In this time of endings and beginnings perhaps aside from carving pumpkins and sharing treats and playing dress up we should be looking toward the more serious aspects of these days that of mourning and paying respects to our ancestors. This will be a sad time for many as many souls depart and have departed. Let us not turn away but embrace this time of dying in reverence to all that has been and yes for the child in all of us enjoy the sweet things in life for life is fragile and each day a gift.