Riding my bike home from school this afternoon, I listened to the soft patter of leaves hitting the sidewalk and I had to zip my jacket against the chilly air.

Autumn is coming quickly.

At the market this morning, I could buy strawberries, raspberries and blackberries if I wanted to. I could also buy pumpkins and butternut squash. Pears were out in abundance, and apples and peaches. Delicate lettuce stood beside heartier kale, and the first crops of beets were on display. What a delightful, delightful time for eating.

So much has happened, so much has changed, since I posted last in July.

For one, I spent twelve nights on a baltic cruise, and 10 days between Paris and Italy.

For two through fifty six, I started medical school; I adopted a stray kitten, four weeks old; the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes march went off without a hitch; I moved from my huge Hawthorne house and my five lovely housemates to a two bedroom duplex. Tomorrow, my new duplex mate will move in and things will change some more.

I feel like I am living a completely different life. In many ways, I am.

There are so many things I would love to write here: of the lunch in St. Petersburg, Russia at which I tasted my first caviar; of the market and the reindeer bratwurst in Finland; of the midnight buffets, the salsa dancing and staying up all night with my sister. Of the gelato in Italy and the pimples it gave me (oh, the wheat, dairy and sugar... and the havoc it wrecked!); the burger in the Bastile, and the midnight wine on the roof of a deer friend's Parisian apartment in view of the illuminated Eiffel Tower; of the local specialty in Monterosso: frozen TV dinner chestnut pasta with pesto.

And I'd love to write about cooking in the morning for a full day of eating, stowing the hot foods in glass jars and stuffing them into my backpack for my ride to school, and of how I couldn't resist the Ben and Jerry's on sale at Fred Meyer's last week (but am paying the price. when will I learn???), and of my tiny kitten's affinity for chicken hearts.

In my head, there are beautiful narratives of all these things. And, in my various picasas, there are pictures of most of them.

But, on my living room floor right now I have yet-unpacked boxes, stacks of notes and books and lists of assignments which all require my present attention.