The perefect kind of beginning...

Waking up to an alarm, not because I have somewhere to be right at 7:45, but because I'd like to leisurely wake up and have part of my day left. Sleeping past the alarm, and deciding to get up when I want to get up because it's time and I'm not exhausted anymore. :)

The whole apartment is quiet, not sure where my roommate went, but the silence is lovely on a morning that I just feel like being by myself. I blast the music, Ingrid Michaelson of course, very fallish, and get ready...doing what I normally do, but for some reason it takes me 45 minutes today instead of 15, probably just because I can!

Bundle up on my way out the door, because someone obviously didn't get the memo that it's October, not November...but at least the sun is out...and the best part of my morning so far? Grabbing my antique Anne of Green Gables book, a 1908 copy to read leisurely at the Coffee Cottage where I am headed. And yes later I will end up in my classroom for a bit, if for no other reason than it would be nice to be ready on Monday...but for now, I'm headed to relax and just be.

Driving around Yamhill county in the fall is pretty much one of the most beautiful things. The grapes (which are everywhere, I apparently moved to wine country, which is great as I've discovered a great affinity for wine) cascade over the hills, and their leaves are just starting to turn. I didn't believe that there was anything more beautiful than the leaves changing, but grape vine leaves, when they switch over for the season, are a sight to behold. Yellows and oranges, and depending on the variety, sometimes red flood over the rolling hills...beautiful! The trees are all starting to change, but there's enough green to make it still a novelty, and the air is crisp and the sky is blue and it's just a beautiful day.

Arriving at The Cottage I see people I've met through Fox and teaching in this district for the last 3 years...including student teaching...and I am recommended plum baked french toast, which I decline politely for something that I've had my eye on for awhile...a yogurt pancake. I order my coffee, chat with a couple of people in the front while I wait and then settle in at a table by the window, right next to my favorite twisty tree, who I'm sure would have a remarkable story to tell if he only spoke English...Soy lattes with cinnamon are one of life's great pleasures I'm sure. And now my pancake arrives...given by this amazing and down to earth chef that the cottage hired semi-recently from the Portland culinary school I think. She's fabulous and her food is incredible. I have no idea how this pancake is made, but it is scrumptious. It isn't heavy, and it's a bit understatingly tart (because of the yogurt) but I swear there's almond paste in it because it tastes like shortbread...but not as rich. And on the top is a HUGE mound of sliced apples and plums with shaved almonds and some sort of very light honey syrup just drippled over a bit. And now I sit with my breakfast and my coffee ready for a very relaxing morning, and soon I will turn off this piece of technology and pull out my favorite of all books and get lost in Anne's world just for a bit...and when I have to renter my own, I will be just a little bit sad, but then there's the remarkable thing about books, I can go back whenever I want...

If only all of my days started just like this, I think I would be a far better teacher, or at least more relaxed...I wonder if there's anyway I could convince the school district to buy me coffee and breakfast every morning, hmmm....maybe there's a grant for serenity of mind or relaxing classrooms sponsored by Anne of Green Gables...what would Miss Stacy do?