Somehow, September, busy as it was, seems like a distant memory—warm and lovely with lots of time spent biking and on the patio and celebrating birthdays. Then came October, and when we flipped the calendar, it felt like we actually flipped the season, going from summer to fall. Suddenly, the days became cool, and the nights grew downright cold.  Suddenly, it became too dark to go on bike rides when my husband, Clif, came home from work. Could it really only be a week or so ago, in warm September, when we optimistically believed that we might be able to go on evening bike rides until the middle of October? Whatever were we thinking? We’re Mainers, for heaven’s sake. We know what October is like. We should have known better.

Despite the busy hubbub of September, I gave away 4 loaves of bread, bringing my total of the year to 46 1/2  loaves. My year-long goal of giving away at least one loaf of bread a week for a total of 52 loaves is getting ever closer. The way things are going, I should reach my goal in November. However, I still plan on giving away one loaf a week through December, whatever the actual total might be. That was my plan, and I’m sticking to it.

I would like to be able to say that giving away all this bread has made me more generous in all aspects of my life. But, alas, I still struggle with selfish tendencies. Last week when I visited the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, I brought enough money for gelato afterward but not enough to put into the donation box at the museum. I have been brooding about this, off and on, ever since. Why didn’t I bring a little extra money so that I would have enough for both? The truth is, I didn’t think of it, even though I knew about the donation box. My mind was on gelato, and it was on art. It was not on the donation box.

Well, the box will be there the next time Clif and I visit, and we’ll put a couple of dollars into it.

In the meantime, I’ll be making bread and giving it away.