What have I done?

A few weeks ago, Matt told me he had to request his PTO dates for 2024. Apparently firefighters request their dates well ahead of time and they are assigned by seniority. As a probationary firefighter, Matt's at the bottom of the seniority ladder, so it was recommended to him that he not even try for summer dates.

There's a few other stipulations –  things like choosing single dates vs. pairs of dates –  but basically he told me we should pick a few shifts in fall and spring and hope for the best. If we didn't get the ones we asked for, they'd give him a chance to pick different ones.

And I said, "Let's choose late September, and if you get the dates we can go to Scotland and I can run the Loch Ness Marathon."

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

I usually associate the coming of fall with fiery orange and deep crimson leaves, but this October has been fully yellow. When the sun hits the trees just right, you find yourself standing under a canopy of molten gold, and the world around you feels hazy and magical.

That was my experience this weekend hiking in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, near North Bend. 

Home for the weekend

Like we did in August, Matt and I booked ourselves a cute little rental and spent a four-day weekend soaking in this gorgeous PNW-October.

September reads

This month I found a couple new-to-me BookTubers, and binging their videos was strangely motivating. As I've been writing more, I'm more aware than ever that I should be reading more. I'm not exactly reading with purpose yet – that is, I'm not focusing on my own genre or reading with a critical eye – but I do find the practice of reading is making writing easier, and vice versa.

Watching other people talk about reading made me excited to make time for it myself this month.

Pretty soon I'm going to stop patting myself on the back for having rediscovered a hobby with a low cost of entry (free thanks to Libby and my Kindle), but today is not that day.

I read two books this month. Let's dive in!