A Welcome Letter for September

Books, apples, and new starts. Welcome to September!

Welcome to Making Time. Each week, I share thoughts and ideas for making more time for yourself by building creative energy and establishing rituals and practices. If you’d like to follow along, you can subscribe for free.

At the start of each month, I share a list of 9 things I’m looking forward to. I believe that looking forward to things helps us notice and appreciate them more. Please share your own in the comments, I’d love to hear them.

When we walk the dogs lately, I can’t help but stop along the way to pick the ripest wild blackberries that grow along the side of the road. They look so plump and swollen, almost on the verge of rot, and when I plop them in my mouth they taste like jam.

I looked at one, settled in the center of my berry-stained palm, and thought that part of what makes them so irresistible is that they’ll be gone soon. I thought about how fleeting pleasure is, and how life-changing it’s been to learn to simply enjoy it for that moment rather than to hold tightly.

The berries will be gone soon. But the apples will take their place. And the wheel keeps turning; there’s always more to love.

Welcome to September

Here are 9 things I’m looking forward to enjoying this month:

1. Harvesting Apples and Pears

Our small trees produce so much fruit that it’s a race to use it all. My tried and true recipes are pear freezer compote, apple butter, apple sauce, and French apple cake. But I fell in love with the blackberry shrub I made last month, so an apple shrub will be in order this year too.

2. Dahlias

My own dahlia garden did not fare well this year, but I hope to make at least one trip to Swan Island Dahlias to see the late summer magic.

3. The Last of the Tomatoes

And really, the first of them too. Mine came in quite late this year, but I’m looking forward to finally getting a significant harvest.

4. Fall Hikes

I’ve been pushing myself very hard to meet people and build new friendships, and this month I’m organizing a hike with a few women I don’t know well. This recent article in the Washington Post on adult friendships is a good read, and I have many thoughts that I may share later.

5. Learning Something New

In honor of the back to school season, I signed up for David Cain’s One Big Win course, and I’m using it to finally teach myself to design some surface patterns. I’m hoping to create my own wrapping paper for the holidays, and some fabric for various projects.

6. Knitting

Currently working on the Seasons cardigan, using one of my favorite yarns (CaMaRose Snefnug). We’re re-watching The Sopranos right now, so I expect to get a lot of knitting done.

7. Candles Everywhere

In the morning, I light a bunch of candles and settle in to read for the first hour of the day.

8. Books

I’m currently reading Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks (a great book on storytelling) and All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, a writer I greatly enjoy. I’m also looking forward to reading The Awakening Body, a book on somatic meditation practices which many people seem to love.

9. Oscillating Between Easy and Challenging

September seems like the perfect time to work on big projects, but I like to combine them with some easy palette cleansers. For example, I plan to sew a pair of new jeans this month, but I also have a few quick knit tops cut out to make for myself.

What are you welcoming this month?

What is one thing you’re looking forward to enjoying this month? Share it here, and perhaps you will appreciate it all the more when it arrives.

Thanks for reading Making Time. If you’re new here, you can subscribe for free to receive new posts each week. And don’t forget to join me in The 2024 Slowdown this year.