Second Fall
Here’s where I’m at…
I’ve just finished up a couple more necklaces for the November 1st restock…an extra luxurious Laurels with the dreamiest set of Carico Lake turquoise I’ve ever laid upon AND an organic amethyst slice pendant I’ve been turning over in my mind for the past year. Oh this batch of pieces is shaping up to be something magnificent, if I do say so myself!
Up next is a whole pile of turquoise and beach pebbles that will soon be transformed into the linked bracelets that are my current obsession. I just love the way the stones feel as they tumble around my wrist…and it seems like a lot of you do, too, so I’m feeling extra excited as I set out to make this next trio.
On my mind tonight is the training hike my mom and I will be going on tomorrow as we prepare for a longer trek we’ve been planning for November. Also taking up brain space is the house assessment we have scheduled for Thursday (because, if I haven’t yet complained about it here, the walls of our house have absolutely no insulation - zip, zero, empty space between the drywall and the outer edge - and we have GOT to remedy the situation asap.) Then there’s Cirrus’s yearly dental day on Saturday and a photography adventure with friends set for Sunday…my calendar is full, full, full.
But even as my mind is checking those endless to-do lists, I find myself wrapped up in visions of fern-filled forests and open fields. Because here’s where I’ve been…
A week ago I had just returned from a visit to the Northwoods, the land of my parents (and grandparents, and great grandparents, etc.) - Wisconsin. My cousin was getting married and it’s been years since I’ve been back…so in early summer Eric and I bought tickets and made our plans.
But before we left, things got a little bent out of shape on account of the dog.
Usually when we travel, either my or Eric’s parents are able to pet-sit for us (we’re awfully spoiled in that, I know). But for this trip, it just so happened that Eric’s parents were going to be out of town and mine were also headed to the wedding. So we booked a cat-sitter. Got Ponderosa set up with a doggy-daycare/boarding facility. It looked like all was well.
But with all the stress, spending a few days at the daycare to acclimate (even though she had FUN) and watching us pack and prepare and generally do the things we do before leaving, our little pup got herself into a whole mess of bellyache trouble. This is something that happens with her - it’s all part of her high-strung personality. Basically, when the routine changes, she starts puking. If I’m on top of it, I feed her a little rice with her meals and she’s better in a day - but I missed it this time. And so she kept puking and puking and puking - and we realized there was no way we could leave her.
Now keep in mind that through all of this, she was still her happy self. Playful, bright-eyed, up in our business at every moment. In the end, the vet just prescribed some antacid pills and a good probiotic…but Eric decided to stay behind so she could recover. It was hard to change our plans, hard to leave him behind. But that’s life sometimes, and we rolled with it.
SO - my parents, younger brother, and I found ourselves in America’s dairyland in autumn. And even though it’s been unseasonably wet there, muting the colors those wild woods are known for, it was still gorgeous. Of the three days we were there, one was cloudy, one ridiculously rainy, and one sunny. On the wedding day, of course, it rained.
I’m pretty sure that rain is our family’s good-luck-wedding-day charm. It rained on my other cousin’s wedding. It rained on my older brothers wedding. My wedding day? Rain. So we shouldn’t have expected anything else. It was wet and it was chilly - but we wore our layers, in true Colorado fashion, and it was just fine.
The whole event took place at the old family farm where my uncle grew up. The past year was spent cleaning up the property and renovating the old barn so the reception could be held inside…and it ended up being pure magic. Lights were strung between the rafters, plates and cups glittering on the long tables laid out below. I’m such a sucker for personal touches and family history so my eyes were misty from more than just the rain throughout the day.
The rest of our visit was spent visiting other family members and doing some of our favorite Wisconsin activities - namely exploring the woods (where we snacked on citrusy sumac and wintergreen berries), stopping at the cheese factory to buy ALL of the cheese (including a bag of cheese curds which we polished off on the drive back to my grandparents’ house), and pointing out the beautiful old barns and brick farmhouses that sit scattered among the fields and trees.
The brickwork in these old buildings astounds me. There’s such detail and care in their design…I can’t help but imagine the hands that laid the bricks, the eyes that found joy in those patterns. I remember one in particular from a previous trip (though I will admit that maybe I dreamt it, because we couldn’t find it this time around) that was made using mostly cream colored bricks with dark, purply-brown bricks added in as accents. Maybe one day I’ll just take a week or two and drive those old roads searching for it, taking pictures of all the other grand old houses as I go.
And then with a hop, skip, and plane-ride-jump I was home. The weather turned bitter and it snowed and now we’re back to warmer temperatures and the beginning of this post again. Whew - it’s been a wild couple weeks.
But I’m awfully glad for my second fall in Wisconsin. For red maples and the warmth of family and a couple of days spent recharging in the land my people come from.
