The Smell of Fall & Thankfulness

Wow...I love fall! Yet lately it's made me so sad. The last few years someone close to or within our family has passed away near the beginning of the autumn season. Makes day like today bittersweet when you walk outside & see the soft golden sun shimmering through the yellow leaves. You hear the rustle and rattle of crisp leaves blowing around your feet during the strong breeze (yet not as windy as it will be in a few months). Today I stepped outside to run some errand & catch up from my incapacitation/incarceration last week (That whole hospital thing stinks btw.) and the smell of fall hit me full in the face. Now maybe it was a little more overwhelming than most days because it's the first time I've been able to breathe clearly in a month and a half, but boy, did it bring back memories. The sun was gentle, the leaves were blowing, the air smelled like nasty ole crock pot beans, the temperature was just on the warm side of perfect....made me think of all the Thanksgivings we went to my Great-Grandma's house near Lubbock. I had the urge to go dig out some Barbies & find my cousin to play with me. I often wonder what my children will remember. I've tried so had to have some traditions, but this year they are just getting blown out of the water with this move. Life has become so complicated & I'm not sure why or how it became that way. It just seems like things were so much simpler even a few years ago. My husband & I were discussing how things have changed even since we've married. We were counting up the number of different cell phones we've owned! That was fun yet scary to look at the huge changes in just that short space of time. I wish I could find that piece of life is that sucks time & eliminate it. Especially since they boys have started "real" school there is no time. 

Our family put together a tree last year of things to be thankful for. Since the leaves are packed away somewhere, I'm just going to post mine here. Maybe I'll find them before Thanksgiving.

Day 1: I am Thankful for being out of the hospital. I never like going to the Dr. or hospital & sitting in the ER & ER holding areas for a day & a half really doesn't bolster my happiness. I am so glad to be home.

Day 2: I am Thankful for my family. My big accomplishment for the day was walking out to check the mail & in it I found a get well card from my Grandparents. I also had family calling to check on me Friday as well & made me so grateful to know they care.

Day 3: I am Thankful we live away from large populations. We had to get groceries, it had been put off as long as we could. This meant Walmart on Saturday afternoon.....oh dear! Everyone's already getting into the "holiday spirit" aka the holiday funk. I'm thankful we can go home to a quiet area where there are fewer people.

Day 4: I am Thankful that I can spend time with God without having to be inside church or have an "operator" like some religions. I still didn't feel like really getting out & I'm thankful that God understands & I can spend time worshiping & communing with Him in my own heart & home.

So that brings us up to today...

Day 5: I am Thankful for our home. The kids are excited to see the changes in the house & to be able to make some of those decisions about the house. They were talking last night about how they loved the red color I'd picked out for the game room, something we'd never have been allowed to do if this was a rental house. I am Thankful that we have a place of our own, somewhere that's ours & permanent.