Almost Home//October 272nd, 2024

Much of this year has felt eternal to me. I'm not entirely sure why. But on some level, it's felt like Halloween was never going to come around again.

I have theories as to why things have felt so long and hopeless, most of them having to do with my own schedule, and seasonal depression now on top of it. Whatever the feeling was, it was scary for me. Like being a trapped animal.

But, yesterday afternoon, I went for a walk. That is a rarity for me these days as the heat intolerance connected to my summer SAD seems to be getting worse by the day, but after a rainstorm and some Halloween shopping, I was feeling pretty decent.

And, possibly for the first time since 2024 began, I could feel it again. The final leg of our journey to Halloween.

I looked around at the yards I was passing, and could almost see the Halloween decorations, where they will be standing once again. My old friends who visit me once a year. I miss them; their comfort. But, for the first time since last season, I can feel them now, as if they're looking out of windows, waiting for their time. Soon I will be passing them by again, as I walk more frequently through a world I actually recognize and feel a part of. I will take pictures of them and look back with fondness and nostalgia once November comes back around.

I've often said that I feel like a boarding school student, only coming home for a small chunk of time, when the world is a place I feel like I belong in once more. We are truly almost home, and I couldn't be more grateful.

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Katie Pumpkinhead’s Pumpkin Patch

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