Wow. It’s November. Seems like I flipped the calendar over to October just last week. Where did the time go? Actually I can answer that.

October is my favorite month. I even got married in October some years ago. The weather is usually dry and crisp. The foliage is gorgeous. I love sharing the back roads with farmers bringing in their fields. Hopefully the insects have had a good frost or at least a dry September to decimate their numbers. The days are getting shorter, but aren’t too short just yet. Crowds are typically light or non-existent. What’s not to like? I guess if you’re the planner type, you can’t depend on any given weekend being sunny, warm, and dry. Well, I’m not a planner -- if I have a good idea on Thursday and it’s sunny, warm and dry on Saturday, that’s good enough for me. Mostly I think all making plans does is give The Fates some way to foil us. No plans, no foil. And October has a sense of urgency. Do it today, because pretty shortly it’s going to be cold, dark, and wet.

So where did October go? A friend and I sailed up the Columbia from Astoria to Cathlamet and back. I took a road trip in my VW camper to visit an old friend from college I hadn’t seen in about 8 years. I spent a couple weeks visiting grandparents with the kids. Basically I went on vacation and had a wonderful, wonderful time. The best parts were easily the sailing and the drive east through Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming. The scenery was all so incredible. It leaves me inspired and recharged every time.