Almanac | September is for…
Drawing in, towards the slower, September rhythms. I’ve been cleaning out, decluttering & preparing our home for the cozier days ahead with the little, collected mementos from our summer adventures. Hello Virgo season, maybe the only time of year I relish folding a pile of laundry & deep cleaning the refrigerator. A look inside the inner workings of my Virgo husband to say the least.
It happens in September as you are running around to savor the lasts. Last harvest, last summer swim, last verdant greens for a while, a processing happens. Whether you are processing herbs into medicines, garden grown vegetables into nourishment, summer experiences into memories. A reckoning or gratitude of what has come to pass, and a refining, discernment of its meaning & place in your life.
Looking around at this home AJ & I dreamed into being, all the work and energy we put into this place, this land, I am grateful. And it feels like a settling in is happening as collected pieces & memories are made through time and adventures.
As I distill down the wisdom of the season passing us by, I tuck away what is for keeping, discard the rest. In my mind I keep circling back to this “Cherish the moments, what & who you love, while you can.” In the words of Mary Oliver “Don’t hesitate” Don’t hesitate to let love in & let life happen for you. The hills & valleys of this year have brought me into a space of embodied gratitude for all the little things, les petites choses…
Griffin, Magnolia & I have been delighting to watch Nighthawks soar overhead as the sun which has moved to the south ever so slightly, sets. I was astonished to learn birds flying over head here in the Midwest, migrate here for the breeding season and return home to the Caribbean, Haiti, reside in my ancestral home, where they nest on bare ground. With perspective we see the threads that connect us all.
I’m so grateful with how our kitchen space has come together, swapping out for these Regis Angled Sconce from Rejuvenation their style & lines remind me of being nestled in a cafe in Paris on a rainy day, bringing a taste of city living to our country home. they illuminate our workspace when cooking, chopping, & impart a warm, yet refined feel into our space.
Antique Lace Brackets I found at a local thrift shop, but there are similar one here.
Our kitchen hutch with a picture of my paternal Virgo grandfather with his camera. Runs in the family.
September
Their summer romance
over, the lovers
still cling
to each other
the way the green
leaves cling
to their trees
in the strange heat
of September, as if
this time
there will be
no autumn.
Linda Pastan
Time for candlelight as the evenings grow darker. Keep your light on.
September holds so much for us as a family. Anniversaries of the beginning of AJ & my love, the passing of his father on the day of his birth, my late grandfather’s birthday, we dot this month with celebrations of our time here together on this Earth circling the sun.
This month brings the reminder as the sun wanes with the seasonal shift, we get the opportunity, to infuse each moment with a little more light. We gather together in celebration of what exists in this very moment. A devotion to our living.
This Maple Pecan Banana Bread was gone in a flash.
Magnolia turns ten this month, how is my little libra love a decade old?? While I sob softly into my coffee, I want to share one of her most favorite treats for nearly all her life, truly since when she was just one year old, is banana bread. She endowed this recipe with her highest compliments stating simply “Mom, this banana bread is just as good as the one from the store”. I do not take such praise lightly and will be making this recipe on repeat this month in her honor, and thought I’d share it with you.
Maple Pecan Banana Bread
makes one loaf
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cups maple syrup
1/4 tsp cardamom
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon puer vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped.
To make:
Preheat over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, lightly grease and flour a 9x5 baking loaf.
In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients: the flour, baking soda, salt, and cardamom.
In a small bowl, mash two banana with a fork in with some texture remaining. With an electric mixer with sire whisk, whip together the bananas, maple syrup and sugar for two minutes, to get a fluffed banana cream. Add in the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla, until well combined. Fold in the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Fold in the pecans and the extra bananas. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool the bread in the pan for 15 minutes and turn out onto a wire rack.
We love this reheated in the toaster oven with a pat of butter or dollop of maple whipped cream for breakfasts.
What are you looking forward to most about the month of September & the slowdown this seasonal shift holds?
In gratitude & connection, Alyson xx