Change of seasons

One of the things I've liked about our new location has been the local-ness of the food. Although you can get apples from Chile or avocados from wherever they grow evil, rock-hard avocados, most of the produce is grown here, or in Italy, Spain, or Holland. The downside to that is that when something goes out of season here, it's pretty much gone from the store. The upside is the giddy overabundance when foods come into season. The first asparagus last spring was a cause for celebration, and I've been so happy to see squash in stores lately.

Local Christmas tradition brings its own food too: the Weihnachtsmarkt in town just opened this week, with little booths selling bratwurst, giant ginger cookies, and long-awaited gluehwein. I had accepted that summer was over (it ended like a light switch had been thrown - the humidity vanished, a breeze set in, and summer was done), but the transition from autumn to winter has been more gradual. I hadn't quite realized how many of the signs were there, but the Christmas market, along with the last of the apples falling out of our trees and the drearily early sunsets, has finally tipped me over the edge.

So bring on winter! I'll get out the big pot and make some soup, and knit up some new hats, and lay in a supply of new books for Liam for days when it's too cold to go play in the yard. The coziness of winter is one of the best parts of it, though the beginning of spring is even better.