Month: November 2016

We humans are creatures of habit.  Our family has sat in the same church pew for a decade or two.  I will sit in the same classroom chair day after day.  We watch Masterpiece Theater every Sunday evening.  Etc., etc.  We have our routines that we like to stick to, and can feel a curve has been thrown at us when they are disrupted.  I suppose this is not a bad thing, so long as we aren’t stuck in a rut.

Take my typical weekday morning.  After rising from bed (not a predictable time, as my work start time is somewhat flexible, so it can depend on how I sleep that night) I will shower, dress, eat my breakfast cereal of Wheat Chex and granola (with in season fruit, such as strawberries or peaches), make my sack lunch (P&B on whole wheat, three slices, cherry yogurt, apple, carrots), and gather the newspaper daily puzzles (crossword, word jumble, and sudoku).

I usually don’t have time to finish the puzzles before I leave for work, unless I can race through the word jumble.  And sometimes Suzanne will leave a few blanks in the crossword for us to finish over dinner.  I jokingly refer to us having solved the world’s problems when we complete the puzzles.

Now that our daily newspaper is only delivered W-F-Sa-Su I have to go online and print the puzzles on M-T-Th.  So that has become part of my routine now.

It seems Halloween is a pivot point when summery fall transitions to wintery fall.  While the increasing darkness and deterioration of the weather are distinct negatives, I love many things about this season of the year, especially the colors.  Here is the view outside my work place today:

This coming weekend we lose daylight savings time, so it will be quite dark for my bicycle commute home from work.  I’ve already had to use my bike lights riding home a few times with the sun setting just before 6PM.

Christmas is another turning point for mid-winter and increasing daylight.  In February we can still get snow sometimes, but also some days with a strong hint of spring, and some trees start to bloom.

Spring remains quite unsettled until July 4, which brings in summer.  The Hood to Coast Relay in late August, and especially the start of school signal signal the waning of summer.

It is nice enjoying the variety of seasons.

Each year we have a goal to avoid turning on our heater until November 1, and I think we have done very well achieving the goal over the years.  October is often very nice, so it doesn’t get too cold in the house until late in the month.  So here is the upstairs temperature this evening:

It was down to 64 on Sunday, so a bit of a heatwave today.  Downstairs it gets significantly colder:

So I really feel it when I work at my desk downstairs for any length of time.

I wear a fleece jacket around the house, as well as wool socks and slippers.  And as it gets colder I will run a small portable heater at my desk for increased comfort.

I’ll hold out a few more days then we’ll splurge and turn on the heat pump.

Happy November everyone!