Autumn love

Fall is here.  It's my favorite time of the year, but it has new meaning since I moved up north: winter is closer.  Yesterday Ian and I drove to western Massachusetts to go shopping at an outlet mall there.  The 40 minute drive was beautifully scenic with the leaves changing colors and fog rolling onto the Berkshire mountains.  I was loving every minute of it, but each deep inhale of the brisk fall day lseemed to lead to thoughts of dread about the northern winter that I feel quickly approaching!  I have visited Albany in the dead of winter and was always relieved to go back south where the snow never sticks.  Now I'm bracing myself for what I hear is a long, grey winter.  Initially, I sought comfort in the waterproof, wool-lined boots that I bought online within the first few weeks of living in Albany.  (They sit in their box under our bed and I'm enjoying the time that they remain there.)  Yesterday at the outlet mall I found the winter coat I have imagined would keep me warm on snowy dog walks and freezing walks from the parking lot to the office.  When I tried it on I felt probably a lot like Superman felt when he put on his cape...I could survive an Albany winter with this coat on my back!  Ian justified the pricetag as it would save him in the end...on having to listen to me whine about being cold.  So now I'm physically prepared for winter (I think), but I don't think I'll ever be mentally prepared.  Locals tell me it helps to get through the long winters by finding winter/snow-related activities you enjoy doing.  This isn't comforting.  I think I'll focus on refining my indoor activities like cooking and baking and art/design projects...and now blogging. 

About blogging...I decided to start this blog as a way of keeping my loved ones posted on the day to day lives of Dr. Haag and I.  I will post pictures, too!  I miss and love Y'ALL.