It's Fall, Ya'll!
It’s October. This season is special and bright and a welcome change every year. It’s special for a lot of my own personal reasons, too. A lot of amazing things have happened to me in the Fall. It was a bright Texas October 2 out of 3 times I learned I was expecting a baby, in two separate Octobers I learned about my sons. In a bright and promising November, I went on a first date with a tall, handsome Marine that would later become my husband.
There’s a lot going on in the world right now and while that is not new, we are more aware than ever of it. Sharing our opinions, even in very arrogant and aggressive language, is so very easy too. From politics to the weather I am bombarded with opinions. Especially here in Texas, we are a strong and outspoken people. I feel like I know what EVERYONE feels about EVERYTHING. There is no exhibition of integrity and class by silence these days.
For a couple of weeks recently I was so tired of seeing everyone’s opinion on the same subject over and over again. It was a tired subject, worn out, sad and depressing and I was about to lash out. When the month started we were all griping and complaining about the fact that it was still 100 degrees. Ever ready to pull out our boots and jeans this was delayed for what felt like an eternity by flip flop and sweet tea weather. (You thought I was about to rant about some big political complaint didn’t you? Ha!)
This morning I stepped out my front door to drag the big stinky black trash can, not the big green less stinky recycle can to the curb for trash pick-up, because it’s Thursday. It was 57 degrees, ya’ll. Fifty. Seven. Degrees. It was marvelous and I stood in my driveway with my chin tilted towards the grey overcast sky with the lemon yellow morning sun and brilliant blue sky barely seeping through the wispy cottony clouds as if the day was just barely waking up and opening her eyes. I let the cool breeze softly flow over my half bare legs and flip-flopped feet. From a mucky pit of sludgy tired thoughts and a wanting for change with a fresh, deep breath I arose.
I have been carrying around this heaviness in my heart for a couple of months. Many of you know that my husband is a police officer so the events of not only this summer but the tension over the past couple of years in that particular arena has worn on me. We’ve also gone through some changes at home with homeschooling, ever more aware of our eventual financial goal of me being able to instead of putting 50% of myself into my work at the hospital and 50% of myself into kids, budget, housework, homeschool and wifedom, I’d really love to be able to be 100% invested in the latter. I want to be home with my kids and pray that I’ll eventually be able to either work from home or wholly live on my husband’s income. He hopes the same.
My mind sort of swirls and spins and swims; there’s a lot to contemplate. Let’s not forget too our political and social climate which is enough to make a reasonable person go savage. A little too frequently I have a great deal of trouble being in the now, especially with my iphone in my hand (keep a look out for a future post “iPhone, my nemesis”, for REAL).
With that cool breeze I was suddenly and joyously in the present. It’s Fall, ya’ll, and it’s glorious! Yeah, you Yankees, and I use that term with love, like to complain that we don’t get “good fall color” down here, but it’s 57 degrees! Stop being such grumps! I haven’t checked the records but I’m pretty sure it hasn’t been that cool since I don’t know, Christmas ’92.
The high is 73 today. WE WILL FROLIC. I will wear my boots and leggings (and likely sweat, but who cares?). Pumpkin spice is now in its proper and rightly venue. Apple cider mustn’t hide its face in the corner of the grocery store or Farmer’s Market for now we can sip it refreshingly chilled or it can warm our bellies! It is the one time of year that candy corn actually tastes good!
This changes everything and even though the foliage is turning brown and orange mostly due to heat exhaustion, we will be glad and grateful! This season is about the harvest and celebrating the fruitfulness and abundance of such.
With each little breeze and deep breath I am revitalized, remembering that time I learned I was pregnant with my oldest, meeting the hubs at the gun range at work to tell him, the same cool/warm mixed breeze in that moment, the same brilliant blue sky and lemon yellow sunshine. Or when we took said oldest child to the pumpkin patch to ride the miniature train the day we found out we were expecting our second son. There was that time I got all dressed up in a long black gown and a tall gentleman in dress blues fixed a corsage to my wrist and took me in his mustang convertible to a Ball. Like a real Ball, I was a princess for that moment. I mean what an amazing first date in the sweet harvest of November! I have been brought back to life.
Today, I will harvest. I will do so until I run out of blessings to name or get distracted with the magic of Christmas. You know which one of those will likely happen first.
I will harvest the opportunity to have fun with my little pumpkins, ages 8, 6 and 3. I will harvest the joy of a sweet friendship as I meet one of my favorite people today to celebrate her daughter’s birthday. I will harvest the heck out of the tastiness of this season with its apples and pumpkins and spices. I will harvest some corn, candy corn that is and enjoy it because for some reason after November it just tastes like stale nougat, clearly a situational treat. We will play outside, hopefully enjoy some football, make some chili, go to the Fair, dress up in costumes….oh now this is getting silly.
You get the point. Harvest. You cannot properly harvest unless you go out into the field and get your hands dirty.
