Let’s talk about the brilliance of September. Especially since we’re just coming off of about 10 weekends in a row of “blizzard-like conditions.”

I miss September.

I took the birthday boy on a whale watch.

(It’s worth noting that we walked to the whale watch from our apartment. I’m so in love with Gloucester.)

And we actually saw WHALES. Like 6 of them. Right next to the boat.

I kept my expectations low because the 8th grade whale watch in 1996 was a horrible flop.

But these were huge WHALES. RIGHT THERE. NEXT TO THE BOAT.

We also took a drive over to Plum Island. Before it got slammed and slammed and slammed by weather disasters. Poor Plum Island.

Our biggest adventure of September involved this out-of-control heirloom tomato situation:

Yeah. It’s a rough life.

It was the best problem ever, and canning was the only way out.

We hunted this down three Targets away and got to work. It was a LOT of work.

The end result, however, was that we had fresh tomato sauce through January. Maybe even February. Totally worth it.

Also, in September, Erik’s mouth accidentally walked into my cheek in the pitch-black apartment when he had no idea I was standing in the doorway. It was very surprising for both of us. This happened:

And, of course, our love affair with Cape Ann continued to blossom.

Cox Reservation:

Squam Rock lighthouse:

Squam Rock itself:

Pretty Annisquam:

Gloucester, I love you.