Farewell October

Half-term breaks are wonderful! They arrive when the excitement of being back at school after the longer holiday has dwindled and they provide enough of a rest to power them through till the next holiday. Each of the three terms is neatly divided in two with a week off from school in the middle. In the States it is a little different since Thanksgiving pushes the short respite from school close to the Winter break and it is pointless to have a mid-term break during the last term with summer vacation kicking off towards the end of June. In the U.S., this leaves only one, the controversial mid-winter break in February. Seattle families seem to love it or hate it. “They’ve only just returned to school and now they’re home again” I’ve heard groaned on the playground. Other parents, the more affluent outdoorsy ones, affectionately call it the ski week, and I think that February is one of the best ski-season months in the Cascades. We never had the stamina to take the girls for a whole week of skiing. That was just a little too pricey for being ski gear mules. A long weekend braving the frosty chair lifts at Mission Ridge with wonderful friends - sure! I can march through the icy car park in my heavy ski boots carrying my gear and another set of mini skis and poles, for a couple of mornings, but no more.

Autumn half-term consumed the final week of October and allowed a troublesome month to gracefully fade. October was still playing her game of contrasts throughout the week, but with no school and scheduled activities and quarantining I unwound and enjoyed the flow. Beautiful Autumn sunshine gave way to heavy rain and flooded roads. At times we were curled up in sunny nooks reading books and magazines. L sometimes vanished to the kitchen to toast pumpkin seeds from our carved Jack-o-Lanterns or sculpt pumpkin shaped marzipan treats, while A quietly played solo with her animal families in a square of sunlight. Other days were filled spending time with wonderful friends, sharing laughter and conversation. I never expected to show friends from Seattle the place where I grew up and for our girls to reunite with so much laughter in the woods I played in as a child. Neither did I imagine I would return to a bonfire party at a childhood friend’s home. The last time I had stood outside his home in the dark with a drink in hand and a party thronging around me, I was 25 and briefly back home after my first year of living in Seattle and I was bubbling over with life. I had brought my poi and spun fire by their pond (a tactical position). The field, the fire and the kindness of his family are just as I remembered, but now life had fast-forwarded with our children dashing among us, new families to the area mingling with old locals, and the crowd thinning in the early evening as they returned home along the narrow lanes to tuck little ones into bed. Rather than spinning my flaming poi I was policing A and her friend as they waved sparklers in the air! We juxtaposed woodland walks with a trip to the coast and an old ruined castle. We spent a day in London, where we were always surrounded by people, whether among the Egyptian artefacts in the British Museum, window shopping in Neal Street or squeezed among the press of people on the Underground. It was fabulous to be back in London, among the buildings and the buzz of life. The girls were delighted that bobba tea had found its way to the city and we nourished our cravings of hot dogs, sushi and bobba. As I followed a ninja, a witch and a princess, searching for sweet treats on the inky streets of our local village, I let October’s ghosts dissipate into the startlingly cold night and wrapped these wonderful memories around myself.