Dear Kid,

There is really no such thing as a bad time for a donut. Because donuts are pretty darn good.

There is a Great Debate about whether the cakey donuts are better than the fluffy donuts (or vice versa). There is also a rather significant controversy over frosted versus powdered versus plain.

I say don’t discriminate. Eat ‘em all.

There are some people who believe donuts are only supposed to be eaten in the morning. These Breakfast Only Theorists are – imho – rather shortsighted. The folks at Tom + Chee are famous for their grilled cheese donut (packed with enough Yum and calories to last a week).

This time of year seems especially perfect for donut eating. Not only can you enjoy the traditional (year round) donuts and coffee, you can have donuts and cider which just screams “happy fall.” You can have traditional (year round) donut flavors but you can also choose from pumpkin donuts and Halloween decorated donuts.

Another wonderful thing about donuts is that they are an affordable luxury. You get change when you take a $5 bill to buy donuts (try that at Chipotle—I think not).

I’m not advocating a steady diet of donuts (I think I went into sugar shock just thinking those words), but as a fall treat, donuts are hard to top.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

It is fall.

I define fall as “I wish I had worn socks to the soccer game.” Dad defines fall as “Get those icicles you call feet off me.”

Some people define fall as “the time when cider comes” or the time of the pumpkin harvest. It is also the time of leaf changing and football and marching bands.

Fall is the time when we can’t find the right jacket because whatever we find will be insufficient for the frost of early morning and far too much for the warmth of the afternoon. Also because we can’t remember where we put the darn thing last spring.

Fall is the time when grocery store shelves explode with Halloween candy and little kids explode with ideas about Halloween costumes. It is the time when some of us begin collecting Really Interesting Recipes for Thanksgiving (most of which will never get made).

Fall is the time when our cheeks get red and we drink hot chocolate and coffee and thaw reasonably quickly. In winter, the thaw will take longer and be much less pleasant.

I need to remember to wear socks to the soccer game on Thursday.

Happy Fall.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

It is that time of year when college announce that there are celebrations beyond major league football and that Diversity Is To Be Respected.

Not a terrible reminder, but too bad it’s a necessary reminder.

Ohio University even sent a link to a webpage that lists Every Holiday One Should Reasonably Be Aware Of. I find it somewhat amusing that the webpage in question is produced at the University of Missouri. But it’s a great resource and even lists major Wiccan holidays which I don’t believe I’ve seen on other sites.

So yay for Major Holidays and Events.

And September 23^rd is a great day for Major Events.

Most importantly, it is your Grandmother’s Birthday! I’m sure you’ve already called, but just in case…

It’s also the Autumn Equinox which means Happy Fall. I’m sure you’ve already sent Fall a text, but just in case…

The Equinox is the point at which there are exactly (and by “exactly” I actually mean “exactly”) the same number of daylight and nightlight hours. Hmm… perhaps light and dark? That sounds like something out of Genesis. Anyway, day and night hours are even. If you live at the equator. If you don’t live at the equator (and I happen to be quite sure you don’t) then it’s uneven.

No matter where you live, tomorrow there will be more dark than there is today. Which is sad (at least for me). This will continue until the Winter Solstice which is the shortest day of the year and marks the beginning of winter.

I think winter would be much better if it weren’t accompanied by so much darkness and snowness. But that’s a discussion for another day.

Being the kind of mother I am, I checked (very carefully) and I can find no precedent for claiming that the Autumn Equinox is a day you should be allowed to skip class. I was equally unable to find any indication that it being Grandma’s birthday should be a reasonable diversity holiday cause for class skippage. There was even a footnote on one site that said (and I quote) “And if it be a math class, thou shalt doubly get thee to class and calleth thy grandmother at a different time.”

I checked, really I did.

So enjoy classes, and the Equinox, and have a piece of birthday cake in honor of Those Celebrating Birthdays.

Love, Mom

Happy Birthday, Mom–and many, many more!

Dear Kid,

Fall is one of my favorite times of year (the others being Any Nice Day ever). It seems to me fall has a wonderfully disproportionate number of nice days.

Booker and I went out early for his morning walk today. I was determined to avoid another episode of Curious Puppy and the New Blacktop so we went before Roxie was out.

It was still dark, the occasional streetlamp giving me a shadow about 100 times taller than I’ll ever be. It was dark enough to see the stars, and the Big Dipper, Orion, and Cassiopeia accompanied us on our way. The weather was just right for shorts and Samara’s old lacrosse jacket. In other words, perfection all around.

Only one or two cars passed us as we sniffed along, pausing to inspect each and every blade of grass. I like the feeling of being (more or less) alone in the world early in the day. No computer, no phone (I just realized I never take a phone on my morning Booker walks–huh), no one else. Don’t get me wrong–I love my laptop and my cell and other people, but sometimes it’s nice just to have a few quiet minutes.

You might assume I would use the time alone to think and sometimes I do. But today I just let my mind go. I wasn’t thinking about anything in particular, I wasn’t trying not to think. (OK, I thought a little about keeping Booker away from the blacktop.) I was enjoying the morning, taking a minute to appreciate the early quietness. There is something very refreshing about taking a few minutes every now and then just to let my mind relax.

By the end of the walk, the sky was lightening and it was the start of a new day.

Hope you have a great day with time for a few mind relaxing moments. Taking time to think of nothing is important too.

Love, Mom