October

Why is October such a difficult month? It seems like for as long as I can remember....well for at least the past 5 or 6 years, October has proved particularly grueling. September is great, November is okay, but October seems to be a perpetually challenging period of time. And it's really odd to me because overall, I really enjoy the fall season and all that it brings to daily life.

Is it because this is the middle of the fall semester? Even during times when I haven't been a student, I've always been operating on some kind of academic calendar. It makes sense to me that when everything gets started in August or September, there is a lot of energy and motivation. By October, enthusiasm has kind of died down and you are right in the thick of things. It doesn't help that I seem to have some kind of emotion crisis each October as well. Is it just me or am I merely participating in an autumnal phenomenon?

All I know is that I'm looking forward to November. I'm not suggesting that anything radical happens on November 1 to suddenly make life easier. I guess I just have all of October to wrestle with the difficulties of life as I know it in whichever year. And by November, I'm starting to figure out how to make it work or how to cope, either one. All in all, I think November will be better. Then maybe I'll post more on my blog. In the meantime, during the last few days of October, here is an autumnal scene for you to enjoy:

Saturdays

Every Saturday, I get up early to go to one of the parks here in the Athens area to cheer for the Downtown Falcons. I coach one of the cheerleading squads and it is loads of fun, but very exhausting at the same time. Today, for some reason I was especially tired. So when I got home around 2:30, I really just fell on the couch and rested there. My dog, Daisy, never passes up an opportunity for napping so she joined in too. This is the picture my roommate took to capture the moment: