September Yarn Along

I didn’t post an August Yarn Along.  Which is a bit ironic because besides my immediate family, (husband, children, and grandchildren), reading was about the only thing that brought me any peace. August was an emotional month dealing with the problems of both my mother and my husband’s mother, problems that so many seniors face today.  September has always been a month for changes and new beginnings and this month has brought us a new normal I’m learning to adjust to.  And sometimes reading and working a puzzle can help an overloaded, emotional brain. 

For the September Yarn Along I just finished knitting two dresses, one for Rowen and one for Sophie. The pattern is River Dress.  It’s a fun, quick pattern, and best of all, it’s free.  But it only fits size two.  As for books, I just finished reading White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism.  There is so much to learn from this book, the most important in my view is that no matter how progressive we believe ourselves to be, “it is impossible to completely escape having developed problematic racial assumptions and behaviors.”  To say it was an eye-opening read is a vast understatement.  I can’t recommend this book enough.  I then moved on to the State of Wonder by Ann Patchett.  It’s been on my “to read” list for some time and I’m halfway through it.  I hate to think it, but once I’m finished reading it I can’t imagine having time to read much more of anything else until after Christmas because the full press of gift making will begin.

I’m always sad to say goodbye to the summer and watch the kids go back to school. It always takes me a week or two to change my mindset and adjust.  Now that fall is officially here there’s so much to do!  This month we’re not only busy with our grandchildren’s activities, (cheerleading, and football and soccer games) we are also helping to take care of two of our grandchildren while their parents are out of the country.  But this September is different because we are also busy with our commitments as chairs of our local Democratic party.  With only a little over a month until the midterm elections, we’ve been out canvassing door to door nearly every evening and weekend, passing out literature, putting up yard signs, and getting people interested in going out to vote.  We’re also passing out pens we made ourselves.  We wanted to order promotional pens but the best deal we could find was .22 cents apiece for 1000 pens.  The problem was they wanted $100 to ship them!  So we watched a youtube and made our own. 

Going out and talking to people really has been a wonderful experience for me.  It’s so gratifying to feel like you’re making a difference.  If in November my desired outcome doesn't come to be, at least I know I did everything I could to create change in my little corner of the world.