Frances Giles Scott Miller

I don't know much about my paternal grandmother, Frances Giles Scott Miller
I do know, thanks to my Uncle Lynwood's Facebook post, that today is her birthday
That she'd be 105
I know she named me with a laugh
I know that was one of the first gifts I was given after birth
That maybe it wasn't so much the name but the laughter she was gifting me
My parents were contemplating my name options
(Clearly, they couldn't settle on less than three)
When a laugh came from my mom, but it wasn't her laugh
Frances Giles wasn't alive but she filled the room with laughter
Giles, it was decided
Hearing about that I felt like Aurora
Frances a fairy godmother
She gave me the gift of laughter
And I know she's stuck around
Grandmother's love showering their grand babies with gifts
And Frances is no different
I don't know much about her but I probably saw her when I was a baby
When babies stare at empty spaces
and laugh
I don't know much about her but I like to think she's keeping tabs
For now, I'll just thank her for the laughter, the third name, and the stories I look forward to hearing
With Love,
    Giles

"I Miss You"

For someone to take your hand, and pull you gently down as they bend to show you a little dollhouse, saying "Hey, you see that room there, with the light on? The floral wallpaper and the light on?"
"Yeah?" you say
"That's yours" they say, smiling "I keep a light on there"
What could be better. 

Dichotomy of Fall

Fall is ~conspiratorial~.
and cozy.
and especially both at the same time.
Fall is maddeningly sneaky.
maddening in that it's busy and there's hardly time to hide.
in Fall I want to eat cinnamon apple oatmeal, but I want to do it while hacking into a blueprint database.
Fall begs you to indulge in hide n' seek inside while pasta boils on the stove and butternut and sweet potato (simmer? I'm not a chef, can you tell?).
Fall is buzzed and energetic. cozy, comfortable, warm colors
against green and purple, ghosts, darkness, and chilling uneasy
"it's just the wind"
Fall isn't spring, but there's a newness
fresh in a musty way
like exploring the basement you haven't visited in months
or re-discovering an old file in the attic
shedding leaves
Fall is conversational, collaborative, communicative,
sometimes confrontational
communal
Fall is seeking company
Fall is mysterious and transitional
and makes you want to be wrapped in.....something
in blankets or flavors or people or schemes or sensationalized fear
Fall is forgiving
an easy parallel to the leaves falling
Maple Maple Maple Chai
Fall is historical
is touring a landmark mansion but imagining more about it than you learn, maybe
Fall is hunger
for food, communion, reconnection
Fall is observational
and acoustic
and surprisingly expressive
and restless
like the driving need for the harvest
it's generous
Fall in California wonders what the Santa Ana winds will stir up this time
Fall is domestic, somewhat
but with an edge that morphs into mystery and conspiracy
Fall is nostalgic, no doubt
remember where you were a year ago today?
unrecognizable, no?
breezy melancholy
Fall is hopeful, more quietly than spring
uncertain
and aesthetic
fall is crispy soft
musty fresh
warm colors, chilly air, chilling tales
and thinking a word that means "g'bye" and "hello"
one we don't have in English
it's tingly, rich, and waiting
ciao ;)