We are now months and months into pandemic shutdowns, travel restrictions, and general malaise. In an effort to keep these last months of the year from spiraling into a hot mess, I thought I’d come up with a list, similar to the ones I often make for weekends, of things I’d like to accomplish each month. I will not get mad at myself if I don’t cross items off, but if I get stuck this gives me a physical place to turn to to see what I could work on.

I’m surprised to report that I actually did a pretty good job with my September list. I think I may have missed a week of bike riding and the MLK Library opening wasn’t actually open to the public (although I have since stopped by the outside of the building, at least). But otherwise, they all have firm checkmarks next to them.

Now, on to October’s list. This month, I’d like to:

• Finish another knitting project. It would be awesome if it were the Halloween socks, but I’d also be happy if it were the pair of socks I was trying to finish before the Tour de France.
• Start coming up with a game plan for Christmas gifts. I don’t have to decide about everyone, but with only one income, mail slowdowns, and the possibility of spending the entire month of November mourning a terrible election outcome, it would be smart to get on this now.
• Speaking of that horrific potential outcome, spend time each weekend in October doing some sort of election activity. Right now, writing postcards still make sense, but I’m sure as it gets closer to the end of the month, I’ll need to switch to texting/making phone calls. (It’s that important.)
• Send out at least three packages. I have the pieces spread across my living room, but haven’t gotten them in boxes and out the door.
• Bike to coffee shops in the area as part of the annual Coffeeneuring bike challenge. It’s good to have traditions, and I’d like to support some of the shops that have opened in the last year, particularly the mom & pops and the Black-owned businesses.
• Send another load of donations to Goodwill.
• Take a day off and see some fall foliage. I’d love for it to be on Skyline Drive in Virginia’s Shenandoahs, which I’ve never visited. But it’s possible that their autumnal adornment will conflict with a work conference, so I might have to compromise with some local fall color.
• Close my work laptop by 5:30 4 days a week. I might need to compromise and open it back up again after sundown, but I definitely need to work on getting outside during the daylight now that the sun sets before seven.
• Write at least two Into the Stacks book review roundups. I’d love to actually get an entire year’s worth of reviews written and it would help if I spent some time this month getting caught up. I hate writing book reviews, but love having them written. I just need to learn to pen posts in my sleep.
• Organize a Zoom call with my college friends. We had one in the spring and it feels like now would be a good time to check in again.

How about you? What’s on your October bucket list?

You know what helps improve your mood? Seeing the sunset over the river:

Know what else works? Getting to try the new fancy bakery in Georgetown. Rudi opted for the café con leche monthly special, while I had the chocolate peanut butter. We may also have a slice of coffee cake to split for elevenses tomorrow.

The weekend was … fine. Disappointing. But fine really. I mean, there was nothing especially wrong with it. Everyone I care about is doing fine — lifting their bale, toting their barge. I spent time outdoors, I got sleep, I talked with friends on the other side of the country, and I went for a bike ride.

Maybe it’s that it’s finally October, a month that usually includes trips to see family and friends, with birthdays aplenty and the promise of weekend festivals and cooler temperatures and … just … life.

“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”

I am counting my blessings. We have each other. We’re healthy. Our families and friends are healthy. We have an apartment and a garden plot and a car and bikes. We have food and access to libraries and online movies and phones to reach out to loved ones. I have a job that is good 85% of the time and a bank account with money in it. If that doesn’t feel like enough today, I know it’s okay. Because it is enough in the grand scheme of things.

I guess it just feels like a Mondayish Sunday in a Mondayish month of a Mondayish year. Yeah, I think that’s it — 2020 just feels like a year of Mondays.

The good thing about Mondays is that they go away eventually, whether you do anything about them or not.

Here’s to that moment.

What shall I do this weekend? I’m thinking:

• Go for a bike ride.
• Block my shawl. (Because I have no doors and a curious cat, blocking with pins needs to happen outside my apartment someplace. Tomorrow looks to be blue skied, so it will be perfect to spend time at the park.)
• Read.
• Write postcards. It’s to Georgia voters this time.
• Bake cookies and bread.
• String the rest of the fairy lights around the apartment.
• Paint my nails.
• Spend time in the garden.
• Finish my sock.
• Call some friends. (Our monthly video chat is tomorrow.)

What’s on your agenda for the weekend?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Rudi and I have seen these guys playing in the park by the garden once before. They seem to have a weekly pool noodle football game. As best as we can tell, it’s a variation on flag football, but with less touching, presumably for sake of COVID-19. Either way, it amuses me greatly to see these guys running around waving their pool noodles in the air.

2. At my request, Rudi picked up Halloween-hued fairy lights from Target. We’ve only strung one of the three strands so far, but the orange, green, and purple lights make the early darkness more bearable.

3. Sarah and I refused to let the pandemic keep us from our annual fall tradition of picking apples and buying cider doughnuts.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?