Yesterday evening, Michelle and I returned to the homestead from a visit to a distant planet: Washington DC.
We’d been gone since October 3rd, traveling by ferry and jet to attend and participate in my sister’s wedding. That’s why the recent post have been so pedantic—the blog’s been on autopilot for almost two weeks.
We had an excellent time! The wedding was fantastic, we met many new family and reacquainted ourselves with relatives, some of whom I’ve not seen for more than 40 years. My family assembled for the first time since Mom passed away 13 years ago.
Washington DC surprised us. In October, it’s not so crowded. True, we could look around us on the main streets at any time and see more people than live in Haines, but at least we didn’t experience the full tourist press of high summer. The weather was warm and comfortable, the people were friendly, outgoing, and helpful, and the sights were, as you might expect, magnificent. On the way home, we had enough of a layover to visit Aly for a couple of hours and see her new apartment.
We didn’t find ourselves yearning for home, but we are so happy to be back. October is my favorite month, and I’m distressed to have missed so much of it here. But, all’s well on the homestead (although the low temperatures and no heat in the cabin have me concerned for our current wine batches). We didn’t even find any fallen trees on the trail, as we often do.
Now comes a reset, as we re-enter homestead life. The snow line has lowered on the mountains, and snow threatens in the forecast. It’s time to decorate for Halloween. We need to make new yogurt and finish processing the apples we picked before we left. Autumn’s in its prime, and winter is coming. I also have a lot of comments on the blog that need to be answered. Time to get going . . . .