You know, in just a matter of a handful of weeks now, Autumn will officially start.
Yes, I know I do this every year.
I get rather melancholy this time of year. Every year it's the same thing. September begins and I start thinking with excitement about things like
combines harvesting the fields,
fertilizers being spread on those large farmsteads,
cooler evenings,
the surprise of a cool breeze during the day,
air conditioners being used less and less and windows opened with softly blowing curtains around them,
apples ready to harvest,
pumpkins starting to perk p for picking,
leaves slowly beginning to turn all those magnificent colors of deep rust, brighter red, rich orange and brilliant yellow,
the gathering of firewood for that first lighting of the woodstove,
those wonderful autumn smells...ever notice how pies and breads just smell so much better, so much more homey during the autumn than they do in the summer?
the starting of school and those big yellow buses rolling along the lanes early morning. No, my children aren't riding a bus, but there is just something that touches my heart and says autumn, in a nostalgic sort of way, about those yellow buses on the road after a summers' absence.
There are preps being made everywhere it seems...
folks are finishing off larger portions of their gardens and clearing them for a winter rest,
chickens are growing and seem to know time is limited for gathering those bugs and greens before the snow flies,
barnyards are freshened and hay mows filled with the last of the hay harvest before winter.
There are just smells and actions that speak autumn all over.
But, it's a bittersweet time for me. I miss all those things I've just mentioned. I know it's all a state of mind, really, but I have not been able to wrap my mind around a changing of seasons since moving here. Everything stays so green...and so wet...this time of year around us. I can pull out the autumn colors in flowers and garlands to decorate the house and give an illusion of autumn, but it's just not in my heart. I am just too wrapped up with seasonal changes.
Yes, I have so many friends here in the South who would argue vehemently that there are changing seasons here, and there is a definite autumn. I guess my trouble is, I only know one kind of autumn in my mind. It's the only one I've ever known. It's hard to change a vision that is ingrained in a nearly-40 year old mind.
So, this weekend, we are going to try to bring autumn to the homestead. I am gathering the fall fabrics to tuck here and there on a table, along a bookcase and near an oil lamp. I'm putting up a simple garland of flowers...all those beautiful rich tones I so love this time of year. We will be doing our evening devotions with the lanterns lit instead of the regular lighting...sort of creating that cozy feeling that autumn brings with it.
My eldest daughter says that's fine...as long as I don't crank up the a/c so we all have to don sweaters and thick socks to really bring that feeling of autumn to real life!
I love the fall - it is my favorite season. I live in an area that is always green, though, and have most of my life. I have always had to imagine the leaves turning red, gold and brown! LOL
Like you plan to do, we have always tried to decorate with the rich colors of Autumn; also haybales, dried corn stalks, lots and lots of pumpkins (which I forgot about planting until it was far too late!).
I hope you find your fall and can quickly adpat to the new ways of fall in your new place!
Oh, Deanna, I am with you. I am ready for the sights and sounds of the turning of the season. I am ready to use this new to us wood stove. I am ready to bake all the goodies for the season and use fresh picked pumpkin. I am READY!!!
I hear you..... I love *seasons*.....I was born and raised in the Seattle area and there are no distinct seasons..... now I live in the midwest and the seasons are very clearly different and I LOVE it! I can't imagine living somewhere there were no seasons. That would be hard -- to not have snow for Christmas or crisp autum...oooh....that would be hard. I can see how you miss that.
Love the art clip at the top of your post. Fall is my favorite time of year!
Blessings,
gloria
~~that's the part I truly miss the most. I have *always* been a fall/winter sort of person.
I have things I enjoy in spring -- those first flowers in the wet rich soil, the buds filling up the trees, the little patches of snow on a tilled corn field, and that first day of being able to open windows and breathe fresh, cool air again and fill the house with it.
I have a few things I like about summer -- the first weeks of warm-ish weather, getting out and working the garden, tilling and preparing it for planting, those first little plants peeking up through the soil, hummingbirds coming to the feeders, butterflies all over...
But those cool days of fall and winter are my true passion. I feel so much more 'homey' during those months. I thrive on all the preps that go into a northern winter. It gives me a sort of homestead purpose to know I simply HAVE to have those things done. And knowing they need to be done before the skies turn that beautiful steel gray and blue heralding in the first snows.
Ahhh.....guess I need to paint a winter scene on each window shade....
Deanna
Edited by HandsNHearts on Friday, September 5, 2008 at 08:52
No indulgences of self will can be trivial, no denial unprofitable; Heaven or Hell depends on this alone. A parent who studies to subdue it in his child works together with God in the renewing and saving of their soul. The parent who indulges it does the devil's work, makes religion impractical, salvation unattainable, and does all that in him lies to damn his child, soul and body, forever.
Susanna Wesley
At The School Desks
We are a Christian family desiring to raise our children with the primary focus of Training their Hearts!
I have no greater joy, than to hear my children walk in truth... III John 1:4
Train up the child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it... Proverbs 22:6
Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!... Deuteronomy 5:29
Our mission in life is not to go to some far-off foreign land, but to work at home and in our churches and home communities. Our goal should not be to leave behind riches and possessions, farms and homes for our children, but a priceless heritage they will cherish enough to work fervently to pass along to their children. It has been done for generations and with God's help it can still be done. In teaching our children, we are striving toward a deep understanding of who they are In Christ. I am . . . a child of God, a gift to my parents and my country. I'm a person of great value because God made me. I can . . . do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God has made me able to do everything required of me. I ought . . . to do my duty to obey God, to submit to my parents and everyone in authority over me, to be of service to others, and to keep myself healthy with proper food and rest so my body is ready to serve. I will . . . resolve to keep a watch over my thoughts and choose what's right even if it's not what I want.
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