whether, weather
i really love september. i used to ignore it, i used to never really mark time with the change of the seasons. my life really revolved around however i wanted to manipulate and manage my twentyfour hours each day. but now, i am so much more aware of time and of life cycles and of the seasons, it amazes me how many years i just didnt even seem to notice.
but now, even on the hottest days, the mornings smell different. the heat of the day is at 4 instead of 2. fog sets in almost every evening, and all the night noises are much more subdued. our deer family spends a lot of time eating our apples and autumn clematis. the best days, to me, are when there is a chill in the air enough for a sweater, or at least for a scarf around my neck, even if im still wearing a teeshirt.
septembers changes prepare me for winter. there are things to do: gardens to clean out and cut back, things to bring in from the cold, plants to re-pot and find a home for inside. the screens in the doors have to be changed out to glass, the furnace has to be filled with water, the window in the dining room has to be oiled and closed, the air conditioner has to come out of our bedroom window. bulbs for next spring need to be planted, and seeds for planting need to be ordered or gathered. ill pull out my LLBean workboots and sit them under the piano bench, for snowy & wet days.
one of my favorite things in life is to curl up on the bed or on the couch with a hotHOT cup of chai, wearing a sweater that FEELS perfect no matter what it looks like. my cheeks tend to get really hot and really red in the winter, and i like it because it makes me feel Small. it makes me feel innocent. when i smile now and look close i see wrinkles forming around my eyes and i LOVE it. i appreciate those wrinkles, i appreciate happiness and goofiness and ridiculous smiles. winter always brings me inward and upward, i think. i tend to read a lot more and write a lot more and paint and dive into things in the summer i would never consider. i tend to care for my body more in the winter, too.
who knows what this winter will bring. i am so excited to see noah watch the snow fall down for the first time. but before that are the falling leaves. i wonder if he'll like how they crunch? and all the colors, he'll love the colors. i cant wait to put wee sweaters on him and little hats with ear flaps. surely he'll see a lot of cardinals, so red against the white snow. & we'll make bird & squirrel friendly ornaments to hang on the tree outside at christmastime.
i am sewing noah a christmas stocking out of some of his newborn clothes. im saving a bunch of it for (hopefully) a second bebe, but those treasured ones that are simply all NOAH are going to get cut up and sewn together to make a stocking. he'll probably hate it when he's 15, but i bet his girlfriend will think its cute.
"our mentioning of the weather -- our perfunctory observations on what kind of day it is, are perhaps not idle. perhaps we have a deep and legitimate need to know in our entire being what the day is like, to see it and feel it, to know how the sky is grey, paler in the south, with patches of blue in the southwest, with snow on the ground, the thermometer at 18, and cold wind making your ears ache. i have a real need to know these things because i myself am part of the weather and part of the climate and part of the place, and a day in which i have not shared truly in all this is no day at all. it is certainly part of my life of prayer."
thomas merton
but now, even on the hottest days, the mornings smell different. the heat of the day is at 4 instead of 2. fog sets in almost every evening, and all the night noises are much more subdued. our deer family spends a lot of time eating our apples and autumn clematis. the best days, to me, are when there is a chill in the air enough for a sweater, or at least for a scarf around my neck, even if im still wearing a teeshirt.
septembers changes prepare me for winter. there are things to do: gardens to clean out and cut back, things to bring in from the cold, plants to re-pot and find a home for inside. the screens in the doors have to be changed out to glass, the furnace has to be filled with water, the window in the dining room has to be oiled and closed, the air conditioner has to come out of our bedroom window. bulbs for next spring need to be planted, and seeds for planting need to be ordered or gathered. ill pull out my LLBean workboots and sit them under the piano bench, for snowy & wet days.
one of my favorite things in life is to curl up on the bed or on the couch with a hotHOT cup of chai, wearing a sweater that FEELS perfect no matter what it looks like. my cheeks tend to get really hot and really red in the winter, and i like it because it makes me feel Small. it makes me feel innocent. when i smile now and look close i see wrinkles forming around my eyes and i LOVE it. i appreciate those wrinkles, i appreciate happiness and goofiness and ridiculous smiles. winter always brings me inward and upward, i think. i tend to read a lot more and write a lot more and paint and dive into things in the summer i would never consider. i tend to care for my body more in the winter, too.
who knows what this winter will bring. i am so excited to see noah watch the snow fall down for the first time. but before that are the falling leaves. i wonder if he'll like how they crunch? and all the colors, he'll love the colors. i cant wait to put wee sweaters on him and little hats with ear flaps. surely he'll see a lot of cardinals, so red against the white snow. & we'll make bird & squirrel friendly ornaments to hang on the tree outside at christmastime.
i am sewing noah a christmas stocking out of some of his newborn clothes. im saving a bunch of it for (hopefully) a second bebe, but those treasured ones that are simply all NOAH are going to get cut up and sewn together to make a stocking. he'll probably hate it when he's 15, but i bet his girlfriend will think its cute.
"our mentioning of the weather -- our perfunctory observations on what kind of day it is, are perhaps not idle. perhaps we have a deep and legitimate need to know in our entire being what the day is like, to see it and feel it, to know how the sky is grey, paler in the south, with patches of blue in the southwest, with snow on the ground, the thermometer at 18, and cold wind making your ears ache. i have a real need to know these things because i myself am part of the weather and part of the climate and part of the place, and a day in which i have not shared truly in all this is no day at all. it is certainly part of my life of prayer."
thomas merton