A November Weekend

It's November. I don't know how it arrived so quickly, but I wish it had knocked first. The weather has been cold, wet and wonderful.

At the last minute, I went to a Halloween gathering in San Mateo on Friday. We had the aural pleasure of not one, but two people belting out karaoke renditions of Creed's "One Last Breath". It was also the only night where one could witness and readily accept a bearded nun shooting pool against a horned demon.

On Saturday, I watched Florida State demolish Notre Dame. Two names I want to remember, but will mean nothing to me in another week: Chris Rix and Craphonso Thorpe.

Later in the day, I was doing housework and listening to Norah Jones, when I decided to check the temperature outside. As I opened the front door, I was greeted with a gust of cold air and was overcome with a feeling of... Christmas. I'm not sure what triggered it, but it was a strange sensation.

Later, I watched Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. The movie is based on her book of the same name as well as material from her letters and journals. There is something about her characters and the way they interact that draws me to them.

I was thinking about how much I like her writing, when I suddenly remembered NaNoWriMo. My novel's working title is "Huh?" and that's all I can honestly tell you. So far, nothing has been written, which means there is still hope it won't suck. If November hadn't snuck up on me like it did, I might have been better prepared to procrastinate.

On Sunday, we went hiking in Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve. We made a ten-mile loop around the northern portion of the preserve. The weather was good, but tended to be on the cooler side most of the day.

Afterwards, our weary group had dinner at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. From our table on the patio, we had a view of the bay and could hear the music of the jazz band inside. I had mahi mahi and tried a pint of Smuggler's Stout, a tasty microbrew with chocolate and coffee flavoring.

All in all, it was a good November weekend.