Fall Pleasures

I can never fully commit to loving fall because it has winter so close at its heels, but I do appreciate the perfect fall days when they come - it's hard to beat sunny and 70s.

A few weeks ago we had the supermoon lunar eclipse - otherwise known as the blood moon - as did the rest of the world. My roommates and friends and I went out to the grass across the street to watch it. I have to say I was pretty disappointed. Yes, it had an orangey tint, but it was pretty small and not very blood red. I saw some pictures taken from other parts of the world and it looks like they got a much more exhilarating show than we did. We had fun, though. Carrie played us lots of songs having to do with moons, my personal favorite being "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. We also had the opportunity to talk to some of our neighbors who came out for a bit.

The next day, the sunset was out-of-this-world, lighting up the whole sky with color. It was the kind of sunset that makes you just stop whatever you're doing and watch because it feels disrespectful not to. I couldn't help but think it was the sun's way of showing the world who's really boss - certainly not some barely orange, once-every-thirty-years blood moon.

One of the reasons I can't fully appreciate fall: cold, rainy fall days. We had one of those right before I left for Hawaii. I went running, and it was just a miserable day, but the scenery of the city is still beautiful! I love the War Memorials downtown. One of my favorite spots in the city.

That night, our neighborhood association put on a pretty fabulous block party. There were bands, vendors, a bonfire, games, and food. The decorations were fabulous and it was a great lively event, even though we had to dress up like it was winter time.

One day, Rebecca decided she was going to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with spice cake, pumpkin, and chocolate chips. Super easy recipe and the result was amazing. The four of us who were here that night ate the entire batch in one sitting. I like to call them veggie cookies, because they have so much pumpkin in them that they're practically a health food. The next weekend, our friend Johnnie bought the ingredients and made them again - again, the whole batch at once, though this time there were more of us. The next weekend, I bought the ingredients and made them again. They're so good! And so easy! I'm not usually a fan of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies - too moist - but when these are warm, they are little morsels of heaven.