The nights are getting longer, the days colder. Hibernation season is almost upon us. Like the autumn woods, I feel the colors of my soul changing, rustling down to earth from summer dreams and settling in for a change of season. Because I serve tables most nights, I’m only home one or two evenings of the week. I always look forward to those quiet evenings at home, the coziness and comfort of them.
5pm ✨ Go on a walk
By 5pm, the light outside is already changing. The shadows are getting longer. I pull on my shoes and wander out to the porch, shrugging on my coat as I go. In my pocket, there’s a piece of gum, a tube of chapstick, a stray bobby pin. Outside, the sky is crisp and cold in my lungs. Birds line the telephone wire, silhouetted in the twilight. I pause at the steps to pet a passing kitten, then begin walking down the driveway, crunching gravel beneath my step. Cows mill in the distant fields. Sycamore leaves flit across the road.
Out here, all my tangled thoughts are calmed and put in perspective by the drifting breeze, the changing patterns of clouds, the rustling of leaves. I’m free to wander the woods of my imagination, to wave hello to our neighbors who are out in the pastures with their horses. My mom and I used to walk this old country lane every night. Now we walk once a week, if we’re lucky, but every time feels so refreshing.
6pm ✨Write for an hour
The minute I walk in the door after the walk, warmth flushes over me. I kick off my tennis shoes on the hardwood floor. As I wander into the kitchen, I catch a whiff of something delicious and seasoned with garlic simmering on the stovetop. Not long now until dinner is ready. For now, I fix a cup of hot cocoa: pour almond milk into a mug, froth it with a tablespoon of cocoa, add a drizzle of maple syrup and a dash of cinnamon, stir it all together. The mug is still steaming when I settle in at my desk and lean forward to light a candle.
It’s taken me a long time to realize that my best writing comes late at night. I’ve been trying to be better lately about making time for writing every day. The hardwood floor is cold in the late evening, so I pull on a pair of fuzzy socks and wrap myself in a blanket before propping my laptop open on my desk. Writing feels sacred to me. Returning to my novels feels like settling in with an old favorite book.
7pm ✨ Dinner
When my mom calls us for dinner, we dish up and gather around the dinner table, where mom has already lit a few votive candles and had my brother set the table. For the better part of an hour, we sit around the table and talk, lost in conversation and clinking silverware.
After dinner, I put on an autumn playlist, connect my headphones, and jam out while I clean the dishes. Sometimes my brother and I sing karaoke. It depends on the mood.
8pm ✨ Shower + Journal
When I’m feeling luxurious, I steal up to the master bathroom to take a hot bath. I fill the tub with steaming hot water and sprinkle a few drops of lavender essential oil, turn on an ambient playlist of relaxing music and birdsong, and soak in the warmth until I feel like I’m glowing with it.
Most days, though, I take a quick shower and slather my face and legs with lotion. I put on my coziest pajamas, make a fresh cup of green tea, and say goodnight to everyone who’s still up. Closing the door to my room, it’s time to cozy up: turn on the twinkly lights, the glowing salt lamp, the flickering candles. First I roll out my yoga mat and stretch for a few minutes. Then, I’ll spend twenty or thirty minutes sprawled on my bed, writing in my journal about the day or something on my mind.
9pm ✨Read for an hour
For the last hour of the day, I crawl into my bed piled high with blankets and curl up with a good book. It occurs to me now that I’m long overdue for a reading update, so I’ll try to put one together for the end of the month. Right now I’m working my way through Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse trilogy. Reading before bed can be dangerous, though, because when I’m hooking on a good book, sometimes I can’t put the book down until midnight. In an ideal world, I’m asleep by 10:30pm at the latest, but it depends on the book.
There you have it! Wishing you the coziest of evenings,
<3 Olivia Grace
