peaceful autumn morning

I'm starting this autumn morning with coffee and a pumpkin muffin. The fireplace is on, jazz on the radio, Woodrow wreaking havoc on our sleepy household.

I made these muffins yesterday using this recipe from Fine Cooking. The recipe is for bread but I made them into big muffins. I doubled the recipe (but did not double the sugar and honey) and it made 12 large muffins. I added craisins and pecans. The recipe calls for olive oil instead of butter which is interesting. I think they are some of the best muffins I've had. The smell of cinnamon and nutmeg and pumpkin....oh, my.

Old Regis and Young Regis put the patio furniture away yesterday and moved the snowblower to the front of the garage. I will miss the patio. We almost live out there in the summer..coffee in the morning, wine in the evening. Such a peaceful place.

We aren't done with leaf gathering. The city came to pick up our leaves on the boulevard on the 21st. That night we had a hard frost and the leaves came down like rain. They covered the car, the driveway, the grass. Damn bad timing, I'd say.

My friend, Joanne, and I are doing a 5K this morning, The Halloween Fun Run. I say doing because we aren't running, we're planning to do more of a saunter. And only if the temperature is reasonable and there is no precipitation or wind. We have gotten much less competitive as we've gotten older. Not that I ever was very competitive.

Most people wear costumes so it's almost more theater than race, although there is always the spandex crowd jostling for spots right in the front, bent over in the Olympic pose that signifies you are a real runner, checking their Garmins. Joanne and I get in back by the walkers and strollers and stand around with our hands in our pockets.

In one race, I won a medal for being first in my age group. I was quite proud until I looked at the results and I was the only person in my age group. Proving, once again, that you don't have to get faster, you just have to get older.

I have been slowly bringing up my winter clothes and gear. Yesterday, I found my Yak Trax. Ugh. There is a reason to rebel against winter. I don't like falling down and Yak Trax only help if you do the penguin shuffle.

Mary has one of these in her office and since I had never seen one before, I asked her what it was. It's a Himalayan salt lamp. It makes such a soft glowing light that's very soothing. They claim it purifies the air but I'm skeptical of that. I have a hankering for one.

Woodrow has finally settled down so we may go back to bed for a while.