A Taste of the Season

Monday evening and we are in our first really cold weather of the season. It hovered around 32 degrees F all day and it is below that now, so I know we will be losing some more plants to frost tonight. Last night we had the same cold temps, but we had quite a wind so it didn't get as cold.

My clothing is layered since I don't like to be cold and I sure am thankful for silk long underwear! (If you like the colder weather like I do, it doesn't necessarily mean that you like being cold!!) So tomorrow I'm off to do vending with my son (He has a small vending business.) and I will be drinking in the changes as the season changes even more. I have got to get out my winter coat!!

From a Lover of Fall

Cool fall days are here to stay, and the evenings are getting extremely cool...no cold! Tonight it is suppose to actually freeze. I just took the dogs out and saw my breath already! It's that time of the year that send the summer lovers in-doors and away from the cold temps, but for those of us who love the cooler weather with lower dew points this is the time to put on a sweatshirt and coat and wander through the leaves. This is the time of year for hot cider and snuggling, and I love it!

A-C-C-E-N-T-U-A-T-E All Things Positive!

There is an old song that was penned by Johnny Mercer in 1946 that should be the theme song for the next couple of years. After the crash and all the economic woes that are plaguing this country we surely need one and Accentuate the Positive has just the right ring and rhythm to capture that need for positive action in this nation of foreclosures and bankruptcies and total madness.

Instead of allowing this frightening environment to get to us, we need to find a tool to help get us through these present hard times, and allow for just a bit the of joy and laughter that always is needed during difficult times.

This song was first written when the second World War was just over and all sorts of new threats were on the horizon, and in many ways today is no different. With terrorism seemingly all over, and the recent market crash we are facing much the same kind of events that haunted the families back in the thirties and forties.

So how about changing the national atmosphere with just a bit of upbeat, light-hearted playfulness along with some really good advice! Instead of focusing on what we've lost, or the hurts that have adversely affected us let's see if we can focus as a nation on the things in life we do have - family, friends and all the things we do still enjoy! Like Mr. Mercer so aptly put it-
We've got to...

Accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between.

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum

Bring gloom down to the minimum

Have faith or pandemonium

Liable to walk upon the scene.

Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

Fall Excursions Into the Day

Saturday is past, again. Life in the fall here in Michigan is slowing down and the cooler evenings have a way of making you want to snuggle up with a warm sweater and something hot to drink. Coffee isn't a drink for the evening very often, but hot cinnamon cider often is!

Today, my husband and I put away the patio furniture which means that summer is truly over. We've had quite a bit of frost lately so much of what was my garden has shriveled and died away, but the birds don't seem mind as they dive and sway on the dead stems of the black eyed Susans and sunflowers. It's still lovely to sip a cup of coffee nearby, but I sure don't spend too much time outside because mornings are more than a bit cold!!!

But the birds are fun to watch since they are all flocking and seem to have such fun in their dipping and diving all over the yard. I like to be outside to enjoy the cool days and views from my windows as well.

The Colors of Fall

The blue sky is that amazing, intense, fall blue today and the air holds that promise of the season that leads into the end of summer's hold on our area. Much as summer is nice, fall is really my time of the year. Today, I'm sitting here at my computer watching the leaves of yellow and orange stroll with the wind and back and forth like a painted dancer across the sky. I need to put together a few pictures with my camera of this time so I don't lose that color before the white glare of winter takes it over.

Winter, though lovely in it's own way is like the drainer of all things colorful. It freezes out that multi-layered coat of color that fall dresses in after summer. It's like a change of dresses for a model that marches and sways down a runway for the most exquisite fashion show we will see this year.

Life in the Fun Lane!

I have a little green VW Jetta that I really love. I say really because though it is my little green monster, and I really enjoy my car, but it was suppose to be a Beetle - at least in my dreams it was.

I had a Beetle once a long time ago, and since then I have often dreamed of owning another one. I would really love an orange one and have always wanted to own one. (I really wanted a "little orange pumpkin.")

I love the way the stick shift can create the power like I'm going fast on the take off at any stop light, and the feel of that simply wonderful German engineering is beyond compare.

I know I'm crazy, after all I don't want something fast, or sleek...but hey, since I can't have either that or a Beetle right now I think I'll try to find a bumper sticker that says it all for me...

In My Next Life I'm Going to Be a Beetle!

A New Lease on Life

I have an idea who's moment has come. With all the contests to win that million bucks that are out there these days, why not create a contest to give a job - a good career chance to someone who needs it? There are so many people out there who aren't getting a real chance to prove themselves because employers are passing them over time and time again for that younger, more exciting worker.

Let's give some of those older, knowledgeable and wise workers another chance at a career!

Rain Memories

Cool temperatures, good coffee, and great friends make for an incredibly beautiful day. Today, it was warm and sunny and though I was running all over today, I enjoyed the feel of sunshine everywhere I turned. The golden yellow trickled down the trees and splattered across the lawn and drive this morning and made the grass into lovely white and lemon puddles.

I was sorry to see the day go. It folded up into the tiniest of packages that can be tucked away in a breast pocket to share the colors and beauty for a long rainy day.

Life Is in the Dance You Choose!

I've been listening to some of my Celtic and Canadian music lately and they tend to focus on the words, as well as the music. Since I'm a wordsmith, I tend to listen to how the two compliment each other and how they apply to life. Tonight I'm pigging out on The Elders, Gaelic Storm and a little known singer Aselin Debison - a little girl with a unique voice from Cape Breten, Nova Scotia (New Scotland for those of you who might not know!).

Some of the songs are simply silly and fun to listen, dance, and work to but one song tonight has hit home for me. It is a lovely dance number, but the words really go far deeper. I have often thought that my life was out of control as if I had no command over what happened, but my choices both small and large make that life whether I see it immediately or sometime in the future. It took a while for that sight to come through the crazy life I was wound up in and I needed change! I had to make a choice, actually many of them. I have finally found a peace with who I am and what I stand for in this small life.

So life is truly found "in the dance you choose!" It isn't easy - but it is worth it every single day.

Seasons

It's drizzling. Life in the fall here is torn between the beauty of those crisp fall days, and the wonders of a cold rain dripping off the roof and keeping us all peering through windows and enjoying the colors through the lens of rain painted windows.

I love the fall with it's schizophrenic weather and personality. Today was rainy and watching the birds playing in the puddles and the colors and grays that are creeping in as the frost takes one plant after the other. Each season holds things to explore and enjoy and I really love that!!

Mired in the Money Muck of Today's Economy

What are the ways to save money? That's what my husband and I are taking a serious look at right now. This may end up being a long term financial problem for all of us, so we have to look at ways to save pennies every way we can. (Hey, pennies will be important again!) So where do I begin for our family? The big things that's for sure, but how about the small things?

This is going to be an adventure, and one we as a nation haven't faced down in a long time. I will be here sharing some of my discoveries and hopefully we will be stepping out of the muck of this nasty mess sooner than we think.

Rejection is the Pits! (Wanted to use another word, but couldn't!)

Got another rejection. Most of the time I take it and just throw it in the heep that I have and go on submitting, but somehow today it just stopped me dead. Those who work are lucky there...I hate the feeling of rejection that goes with those, "Thanks but no thanks," letters or emails.