First snow and first novel

We woke up to our first real snowfall of the season today and I finished my NaNoWriMo novel this afternoon. I finished at the big weekly write-in in Clayton. Among other things, I heard stories about winter weather at the end of past NaNoWriMos and how that helped or hindered people's completion of their novels.

I'm looking forward to NaNoWriMo as an annual event in my spiral of seasons. Writing a novel is a wonderful way to spend the month of November.

Organic matter in the making

We had a beautiful and late autumn color season this year. And when the leaves decided to fall, they went all at once. Since then, R's been working on gathering them up. He mowed a few more in this year than last. Or, at least, that was the plan. But the pile actually looks bigger this year, so maybe not.

We used all of 2007's leaf mold pile a couple of weeks ago when we prepared our two active garden beds for winter. So, we're feeling pretty good about the sustainability and usefulness of this project -- even if it does involve many hours of dirty work to make the pile.

Michael Pollan for Secretary of Agrigulture

I just signed a petition asking President-Elect Obama to appoint Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food) as Secretary of Agriculture. The more I think about the idea, the more I like it!

via Eat. Drink. Better.