autumn time.

When I got back from our trip to Virginia last Monday I felt a serious urgency to bunker down and nest. Maybe it was the aftermath of having back-to-back vacations, or maybe it's the new season, or maybe it's that I'm trying to distract myself from the fact that my baby is almost 1 (next week!), but either way...I've been feeling the need to freshen up things around the apartment a bit. And by "freshen up" I mean get rid of all the excess and the clutter and the nonessentials. It's been feeling soo good. Making space for a new season, for a new way of living, for new opportunities and new responsibilities and new changes. It's funny how the more space I create in our home, the more space and serenity I feel in my mind. The more I clean and de-clutter, the more open I feel in my mind & heart. All this purging seems so necessary to me, but for what, I'm not quite sure yet. Must just come with the territory of being a mother/wife/homemaker—having a sense of what is needed at different times for our family. This "job" of mine is stretching at times, but mostly incredibly satisfying, surprisingly fulfilling, and overwhelmingly rewarding.
(Photo above of two rogue red leaves on the bush right outside my front door, taken last week. It's still very summer-ish weather here and I've come to terms that this beautiful place is best appreciated at other times of the year besides autumn time, but A for effort, California.)