Nights were short day by day.
The leaves lay silent in their changing color
Only to burst with wild, vivid visions as the month went on.
The air was crisp, flitting between the trees, swirling about to announce Fall had arrived.
While other things marked fall like bright mums standing at attention on a front porch. With pumpkins side by side in different sizes, shapes and colors.
Scarves of wool are broken out with gloves and autumn coats to match. To face the crisp, cold air. Distinguished items designed to mention Fall’s arrival in all its glory.
It is the celebration of the month of October.
The month embraces Fall with all its might.
ABOUT ALL AUTHORS
Short Bio on Authors
Storing September
Happy September
Xox
Lc
Storing September by Elizabeth Rooney
You asked me what I did today
I could pretend and say I don’t remember
But, no, I’ll tell you what I did today-
I stored September
Sat in the sun and let the sun sink in
Let all of the warmth caress my skin
When winter comes, my skin will remember
The day I stored September
And then, my eyes
I filled them with the deepest, bluest skies
And all the traceries of wasps and butterflies
When winter comes, my eyes will still remember
The day I stored September
And there was a cricket song to fill my ears
And the taste of grapes
And the deep purple of them
And asters like small clumps of sky
You know how much I love them
That’s what I did today
And I know why
Just simply for the love of it
I stored September.
Last Year Gemstones
Well, it’s the end of another year. Should you look back and assess it? Should you move forward and forget it? Was it that awful? Were there no gemstones splattered throughout the fabric of the tapestry of your year? I think, yes.
So, why not look back? Let’s look at last year.
What gemstone’s brilliance blinded you with joy? Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, Diamond.
These are mine.
One gem, the Emerald, was a slender Ginkgo tree planted upon a terrace overlooking a valley. A coveted tree for many years. Finally, coming to root.
The Ruby was a large Zen garden carved out on the side of a small hill. The fluid lines offering peace and rest. Home to deer, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, wild turkeys, and various birds.
Sapphire brought communication in a variety of forms and systems. Wireless. Verbal. Auditory. Visual. Kinetic. All interrelated. Intertwined. Yet, at the same time, separate threads in the tapestry.
The spectacular Diamond brought purpose in the form of a ball of brown, black, and white fur wrapped in one big package that does not judge, does not criticize, does not hate, does not lie or cheat and is not capable of terrible things. Not a bad bone in their body and soul.
Only unconditional love, unwavering loyalty, adoring eyes, gratitude for every interaction and listening faithfully through endless talks, this fur ball is a Diamond in the rough. But it turns out to be the biggest gem in the fabric. It brings purpose.
Looking back at the year, there were tough spots. Would like to forget 2022 in many ways, but a few precious gems brightened up the fabric of life. And that is all I needed.
What were your precious gems in 2022? Rubies, Emeralds, Sapphires and Diamonds?
To a spectacular 2023 with many multicolor threads in your tapestry of life scattered with precious gemstones.
Happy Holidays
It is the Holidays. I hope you all are enjoying the festivities that come along with the season.
In this time of unsettling news reports, the troubling ways we live our lives every day, and the tense choices we are being asked to make. And the list goes on. Making for awkward situations, people are sick, uncomfortable, scared, tired, and overall, we are not having an easy time being Joyful.
Life can be absurdly hard without added strife. But…guess what? Joy will put “absurdly hard” into a corner, like a young child who talks too much during class that is sent to the corner and tucked away. (Did you ever experience that treatment? I did. I just spoke to the corner, but I was overlooked)
I have strived to have Joy as my companion to pull me through many dire situations since I was twelve. You all can bring Joy every minute to this world, even though it sometimes seems elusive. The uncomfortable times can be comforted. The dire times can be calmed. The world thanks you for that gift of Joy you will deliver. I stole a saying from the book; A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. That sums up what Joy sparks:
The quote roughly says—Crying may endure the night, but Joy always comes in the morning.
So, even though things seem dire, think of a happy thought. Think of a happy place. Pick a special memory. And you will bud with Joy, then spread it around and be a gift to others; that is a holiday wish that lasts throughout the year for everyone.
Merry Merry. Happy Happy. Holidays.
Birthdays Dwelling in Possibilities
You are four years from seventy. Your upper lip looks like a fine-tooth comb, your forehead is like a wrinkled sheet, your skin is blotched like a fishnet stocking, you are as dry as the Sahara desert and you have hardware mounted in your mouth for teeth. It doesn’t get better than that as the day goes on. It is unsettling.
Birthdays can be a day of celebration of the year you had or the year you are anticipating. Or a day of absolute self-pity for what you did not have and will not have as you age. And that, my friend, is where we have the choice to look at our wrinkles as something to live with or iron out. It is easier to live with the self-pity than sit up straight and pretend things are good. Spin it happy and you can try that optimistic philosophy, but it doesn’t always work with Birthdays. Birthdays bring up pasts, presents and futures. Sometimes they just do not bring up happy. And throwing a full-fledged pity party is the best option on the table with antipasto and adult beverages. Do not hold back on the punch of impact you want this party to produce.
The spirit in which you want this pity party to take on is a full-fledged one of hopelessness and despair for getting old and looking like a wrung-out dishrag. Dwelling on all the regrets and should of, could of, and I should haven’t scenarios can keep your party rolling for a while. Stock up on supplies. The regrets, the should of and the could of are like pebbles in a running riverbed. Too many to count and washed over with too much running water to remember them all. Now you say, Stop, it could not be all that bad. Could it be? Really to throw a pity party? Growing old isn’t like a wrung-out dishrag. Regrets and should of, could of are not that plentiful. There truly must be a spirit of joy and appreciation for living a full life as we age, even with physical limitations and aging factors. There probably is another side. A kinder way to look at growing old. Growing gracefully with an ageless soul. When you look at your face, your body, and your mind, you see wisdom in the wrinkled forehead and knowledge from the upper lip. And sweet memories shared of friendships forged throughout the years like pebbles in a riverbed. There is still youthfulness in those memories. Still more joy and desires are being felt every day for the first time. There is more to come as we age. Whether our bodies go with us is another story. That’s the catch. The disconnect. But, overall, the day started off with a grand plan of a gusto pity party. And looped around to a realization that I could survive growing old. So, I guess the pity party is too harsh for me to really throw this year. However, I was really feeling it at the beginning of this day. But as I thought about it. I have experienced much joy, kindness, and gratitude on my journey of sixty-six years; my passive teeth, static hearing and dishrag body will have to accept with silence, peace, joy, and much gratitude for that part of the trip. The pity party is on hold. The party’s refreshments are now being used for a gratitude gathering. We will try day by day to be joyful. But it won’t be easy and sometimes not fun. But Happy Birthday. Until next year.
https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/book-reviews/view/28450/ageless-soul
Ageless Soul by Thomas Moore
https://thomasmooresoul.com/books/
I do not know this bookstore, but I know this book. It is interesting regarding aging.
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