Ruth's Neighborhood
Beginning in 2018 "Ruth's Neighborhood" entries were also posted on Ruth's FACEBOOKpage where her entries (usually weekly, on Sunday mornings) lead to lively conversations.
This page's entries: October - (December) 2026
WINIFRED's AUTUMN
October 4, 2026
As you may know, Molly’s mother, Winifred Motherwell, has died.
And as you know from the dedication of OFF SHORE, Winifred and Molly have been beloved friends.
Winifred was a great help to me with the copyediting of my Facebook pieces, catching my typos and my over-fondness for commas. She also helped me with what I called my “autumn anxiety,” the dread of this season.
In September 2024 I wrote here:
I yearn for spring, my favorite season.
But my dear friend Winifred’s favorite season is autumn and her reasons do lift my spirits. Such as flannel and corduroy clothes! As she says, “I also like sweaters and fall food, stews and hearty soups, hayrides, bonfires, the smell of burning leaves, roasting potatoes in the ashes, the beautiful foliage.” She was a teacher and she adds, “I like the feeling of a new beginning mostly because of the school year, the ‘this time everything will go right’ hope. The hopeful start soon turns into the struggles of learning the new and sometimes difficult, requiring effort and concentration to get through the winter. And then spring comes with new hope and beauty and the glorious finale (and vacation) of summer.”
© 2026 by Ruth Doan MacDougall; all rights reserved.
