Fall is such a gorgeous season with all the leaves changing colours, turning from chlorophyll green to mustard to rust to ochre. Falling off the trees and skittering across the pavement in slight gusts of wind. They collect in huge, dank piles for kids and adults alike to land in after a full Sunday of raking. For me, there’s a strong feeling of settling in and nesting, preparing for winter and its blustering, icy temperatures, though Environment Canada has indicated they will be milder than usual this year.
It feels good to connect and touch base with friends and family. I got to chat with my baby brother briefly earlier. He finally moved to Guelph last weekend; he’s been commuting from Barrie every day for the past month to attend Conestoga College. Unexpectedly he’s coming home to my parents’ for Thanksgiving so I’ll get to see him for the first time since April and David will get to meet Dave. And my dad, David Allen 
My boyfriend is going to fit right in!
Now if only I could get ahold of my wayward sister… I talked to her at Christmas but the long-distance charges are awful on my cell and I haven’t seen her in a year since she moved to Victoria. Chances are she won’t have enough saved up to come home so it will probably be awhile… And a good friend of mine who is a Member of Parliament elected in January called me, though I worked until 7 so I got the message too late. We haven’t seen each other since Christmas when he was all wrapped up in campaigning and dropped by my parents. But he got my vote!
I’m anxiously awaiting a shipment from Amazon. Two books: the brand new, recently re-released version of Elson Haas and Buck Levin’s Staying Healthy with Nutrition: the Complete Guide to Diet and Nutritional Medicine and Michael Murray’s Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine. I can’t wait! Both are comprehensive tombs at almost 950 pages each and recommended textbooks of the Holistic Nutritionist diploma I wanted to take.
Should be some interesting reading; I wonder if they’ll include a nutritional profile for hot dogs? I’ll check it out for you, Mel. 
