North and I have been talking about the autumn a lot recently. Well, I have been talking anyway.
When we go for a walk, I show him the leaves on the street and the changing colors of the trees. I tell him that the trees are getting ready to go to sleep, soon it will be winter. When we find dead bugs, I tell him that the bugs are dying because the air is getting colder. We are reading Halloween books, apple books and pumpkin books. It is fun guiding North into an understanding of the cycling seasons.
In the past two weeks, we have been eating a lot of cabbage. Our veggies from Eddy have included green cabbage, red cabbage, and savory cabbage. Mostly I have added the cabbage into a mixture of sauteed vegetables, but I also made a 24-hour refrigerated cabbage relish as well as steaming the leaves with pepper and salt. This week we got a few squash, I roasted winter squash and made soup as well as cubing and eating it warm.
I feel as though my body is storing up nutrients in preparation for the coming cold months. Since the spring, I have been consuming a much wider variety of produce as well a larger quantity. My meat and processed food intake is much lower.
I wouldn't call myself Sunny Sunshine yet, but I am working on it. Having a better nourished body is making my ability to stay positive much easier. It is so easy to get caught up in eating sugar, surrounding oneself with people who thrive on drama, not drinking enough water, getting exercise; all negative things that will affect mood and energy.
I can't promise I will feel warm and fuzzy everyday in January, but the intent is to try. Who wants to be around a grumpy person? (My inventory includes for blogs too. I realized I was spending too much time reading about other people's never-changing, ending problems. "Grow up already! Change and move forward!" In the meantime, I am over it.) Toss out the dust, move on to things that are meaningful.
Like my family.