There is a sameness to the days here that is starting to get to me. The work doesn't change - beginning mid-October we go for over nearly 7 weeks without a day off. There are no autumn holiday celebrations, no change in the store decorations to herald a new seasonal festivity - leaf-peeping, corn mazes, jack-o-lanterns and turkeys, those markers that move the calendar along.

And then there's the relentless sameness to the weather. Someone mentioned the other day how nice is was now the weather has changed and I thought, really?? This is the change? It's now in the mid-80's, which is less than what is was in August, I suppose, but 5-10 degrees over three months seems hardly worth mentioning. Last night when we walked to dinner (a fabulous meal of Korean food) there were a few rain drops. I remember it rained when Lee was away back in late September but I'm pretty sure there has been zero rain in October. It's just really dull.

One thing that does change are the aromas one smells in the city. I noticed on my way home yesterday that every block seemed to have a different smell wafting down the street. There were the inevitable scooter fumes and diesel trucks but also the five spice cooking, the incense at the temples, waffles and sausages from the food carts. (Yes, waffles. Who knew there were so many different shapes and different ways to serve waffles?!) Even the occasional flowering tree, although not on this particular route.

I took a slightly different route home yesterday because I wanted to stop at the Cookbox, the store that carries everything you might need for baking. Now that we have an oven I wanted to cook up some pumpkin bread (well, not pumpkin, but something very much like pumpkin and just as tasty). Unfortunately, every white powder looks the same and unless it's labeled in English, I'm out of luck figuring out which one I need. I have a friend giving me the packaging of the flour she got so I'll know what to look for when I go to the store tomorrow. The pumpkin bread will just have to wait.