Happy October!

It's finally that time of year again.

Wishing a very happy October to us all!

Autumn achievment unlocked - The Big E 2023!

One of my favorite seasonal rituals has been achieved - my annual visit to The Big E!

It was a gorgeous weekday, and we got there on the early side before things got too crowded. The sun was out, the temperature just right, a perfect autumn day from morning til evening.

The free wine tasting, featuring 6 New England area wineries, was one of the highlights of my late morning. It gets crowded during peak times and I hadn't been able to go in years. We didn't have to wait too long. I'm not even a big wine or alcoholic beverage person, but I do like new experiences and flavors, so this is always a fun time.

Of course, one of the main attractions to the fair is the food. This year I broke with tradition and mostly tried foods that were new: either new to me, or new to the fair this year, starting with plantain fries topped with pork, grilled onion/peppers, and a yummy sauce. Loved this and would get it again.

Next up: the apple fries, new to the fair this year and highly recommended. These were fantastic, crispy fries made of apples and dusted with cinnamon sugar - we opted for the caramel sauce addition.

New to me this year was the deep-fried taco, the outer skin reminded me a bit of an egg roll. We chose the chicken option, which also had lettuce, tomato, cheese, & sour cream. I would've loved some hot sauce on this, but it was otherwise pretty great.

 

 
We also shared a Mass Sea Breeze, a refreshing and very sweet drink.

And last up: the smoked salmon on a stick from the Maine building - which usually sells out as it is extremely popular. It's definitely some of the BEST salmon I've ever eaten, and I am a huge fan of salmon. I've had it before, but most years they run out before I can get it. 

 

Pickle lemonade was one of the new offerings at the fair this year, but we didn't try it. There were a lot of pickle-flavored items, including pickle-topped pizza and a pickle cupcake. I didn't try any of those either. I like pickles, but not sure I need a pickle cupcake. Maybe if I'd had more wine it would've sounded like a good idea.

 

 

Last food item of the day, which is my usual custom, is buying a cream puff or 2 to bring home. This year's special flavor was MAPLE which I am extremely excited about. Maple is one of my favorite New England flavors, 10/10 would recommend this cream puff.

I was happy to see some Halloweeny vibes here and there as well, mostly in the Storrowtown/craft area of the fair.

The Rhode Island building always showcases the Great Jack O'Lantern Spectacular, which returns every year to the Roger Williams Park Zoo (and is absolutely worth visiting; I blogged about it a couple years ago)

Our night concluded with a spooky moonrise. And that's it for my 2023 Big E adventure!

To read more of my more in-depth posts about The Big E, check out these links:

Part 1: Intro / Part 2: Crafts & shopping / Part 3: Animals & agriculture /

Part 4: State buildings / Part 5: Food / Part 6: Other stuff

And just like that - Autumn is here.

 The autumn season is here!

It's cozy candle season;

wandering through mysterious woods season;

harvest abundance season;

cozy blanket and sweater weather season;

pumpkin madness season;

 haunted house season;

 

fall festival season;

 Halloween party season;

 

leaf-peeping season;

 -- and generally, the absolute best time of the year.

HAPPY FALL, EVERYONE!

Sturgeon Full Moon mood

Tuesday, August 1st was the Full Sturgeon Supermoon, a cool clear night good for moon-gazing. It's still summer, but the autumn vibe is definitely in the air.

The Switch

The dark half of the year, the season of death, approaches.

For those of us closely aligned with the Autumn season, I think there comes a point every year (and it is probably different for each of us, & on a different day each year) when you wake up and something has turned. The bone-deep feeling that summer has begun to wane as autumn approaches.

It doesn't really have anything to do with hot weather, or lack thereof (so far, we've had a pretty mild summer in western Washington, knock on wood), but -- a certain slant of sunlight, or the way the wind sounds in the trees, or just -- something. Something crosses a threshold and suddenly, there it is, as obvious as flipping a light switch. You just know. You can feel it.

The ancient holidays known as Lammas/Lughnasadh occur around Aug 1st, celebrating the first of the year's big harvest festivals. Crops are plentiful at this time, and we might be thinking about what has come to fruition, literally and metaphorically.

For me, this year, that day of The Switch was the 25th of July. I woke up and just felt it in the air as the morning breeze came in through the window. On my way throughout the errands of the day, I came upon a small dead bird on our sidewalk. I don't know what happened to him, why he died. He looked like he was sleeping. We picked him up to place him on the far side of our yard so he wouldn't just get picked up by someone else and tossed in the trash. He deserved a dignified resting place as he becomes one with the Earth again. I placed a tiny flower by his head and blew him a kiss goodnight.