October In Chicago: Pass Me Another Blankie

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I love Chicago in the fall. My neighborhood is filled with mature trees that mark the season’s arrival with brilliant colors. Homes decorated for the season flood my evening walks; pumpkins, spiderwebs, witches and ghosts, expertly placed to create maximum spook. The summer’s oppressive humidity fades away and I leave my windows open to invite the freshly chilled wind into my home. Finally, it is snuggle season.

All my favorite hobbies are best enjoyed under the influence of a soft blanket. Reading, video games, journaling, watching movies and TV, and listening to music and podcasts can all be accomplished during the summer. But it’s NOT the same. Warm weather always comes with internal pressure to spend time outside. For this healthy mindset, I blame my mother and former First Lady Michelle Obama, both of whom have spent a considerable amount of time encouraging me to “Go outside and play”. On summer days, I do my best to comply with the wishes of these women who have always been much more invested in my health than I have been.

Once the temperature begins to fall and the days grow short, however, this pressure to leave the house slips away and my deep love of comfort swiftly takes control. I pull my sweaters, sweat pants, and fluffy socks out of storage and bury myself inside them. There is no need to retrieve my blankets, which have spent the summer on standby in my living and bedroom.

This weekend, the first of October, sent me the chill I needed to really dive into my bed and spend the whole day reading. Snuggled in with me was 6 fluffy pillows, a fuzzy blanket, a weighted blanket, my cat, Rowena (who is fluffy, fuzzy, AND weighted) and my current reads. Once a reader who couldn’t fathom starting a new book before finishing the last, I now thrive on reading 3-10 books simultaneously, providing me with options on any given day. I spent Sunday shuffling between my nonfiction read, The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery, a romance novel assigned for my book club titled The Heart Principal by Helen Hoang, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling, a comfort driven reread.

In January of 2021, I set an ambitious goal to read 50 books in this calendar year. With only three months left, I have only just passed the halfway mark. Luckily for me, Autumn in Chicago is here and, soon behind it, winter. The cold, rain, and especially snow will be here to incentivize my time tucked into a blanket. 20 books in three months might not be possible in the heat of summer, but snuggle weather is here. And there is nothing I would rather snuggle up with than a book. And, of course, Rowena.