I have a routine on Mondays and Wednesdays where I get up early and meet my running buddies down on he Mall, then shower at the gym before heading to work. Normally this is a pretty foolproof series of events.

This morning, however, it wasn’t until I was too far into the routine to backtrack that I realized I’d left both my jacket and my bag full of clothes for this evening’s spinning class at home. (We’ll blame it on a poor night’s sleep.)

So it was after feeling like I was figuratively in a fog that I ended up literally in one, driving up the GW Parkway to my office. And it was such a beautiful and peaceful scene that I ended up pulling off to an overlook to admire the moment, and just stop and exhale.

I know it slows down traffic and can make the drive dangerous, but there’s something about fog and how it clings and clutches to everything that I find inviting. Those driving to their Thanksgiving destinations today might not appreciate the weather, but I do. It’s a beautiful morning and it helped set me back on track.

So, so glad that autum is really here now. (I’m not quite as zen as Earl in this strip. I’ll admit to having a favorite season.) I had to skip my plans for making more butternut squash chutney on Saturday, but that just means I’ll tackle it this upcoming weekend instead. Cannot wait.

All around seems to be sluggish, this week. My home computer has been slowly dying, but this week it’s been much worse than normal. Fortunately I saw a good deal on a computer last week and bit the bullet, and I think it might be showing up tomorrow.

So now I’m making a fresh copy of all my documents, pictures, and music (they were all backed up but this is up-to-the-minute) and it’s been quietly doing its business for the past hour or so. Because it’s so temperamental, I’m using my travel netbook to write this, and that means nine zillion updates are running on it while I type. It feels like everything is moving in slow motion or underwater, which is not helped by finally watching the documentary Eleven Minutes, which is just so-so and not as riveting/interesting as I’d hoped.

But in general this week I’ve been feeling wiped out and bleah. I’m hoping it’s not me coming down with a bug. But I’m going to go to bed early and see if that helps. It’s frustrating because this weather right now is probably some of the best “go for a run” conditions all year and I’m just sitting here and thinking, “ugh.”

Of course, once the new computer shows up it’ll be “reinstall everything” and that will be a joy and a half. (Oh wait, no it won’t.) It’ll be nice once it’s done, but that’s going to take some time and then some.

I am going to break out the crock pot tomorrow though. Trying out a curry recipe that includes some pumpkin. It sounds like it will be delicious. I’ll chop up the potatoes and carrots and onions tonight, then tackle the chicken tomorrow and add in the sauce and spices and turn it on before I head out for the day. That’s the best thing about the autumn, the crock pot weather. I love soups and stews and one-pot dishes that make your entire house smell fantastic. The best. The absolute best.

Maybe this weekend I can take a few photos about autumn awesomeness? That’d be nice.

I went running this morning and it was cool enough that I had to wear a long-sleeved shirt, no more than 55 degrees at the most. And when I finished, all I could think was, “It’s autumn! Finally!” Saturday had been warm and humid, the antithesis of autumn in my head. But the temperature dropped a bit on Sunday, and for the past two days we’ve been back to me wearing a jacket in the morning on the way to work, although a stroll to the post office in the afternoon is just warm enough to go without.

Have I mentioned before how much I love autumn? To me it’s a cup of green tea when I get to work, or some apple cider in the afternoon and early evening. It’s the return of squash to the farmer’s market and grocery store, of taking a warm shower after a morning run instead of a cold one, of digging back out my long-sleeved shirts from where they’ve sat in my closet for five months.

When I got back from my run this morning, I opened up all the windows in my home (I’d already turned off the air yesterday), which was a delight to do so. I do wish that I could leave open the windows on the east side of the apartment, but unfortunately that would invite people to climb in and take my things, so no thanks. I can leave the west side windows open, but the breeze doesn’t really come through those so much. Still, as soon as I get home I’ll open them back up.

It’s funny, yesterday I was feeling frustrated by the lack of getting things really done at home. Today, I don’t know why, but it feels like a corner’s been turned in my head. Maybe I just needed the seasons to actually start progressing so I could do the same?