It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Happy First Day of Autumn!

 

The Season For Mums and Reflections on Tradition

I don't recall mums every being a "thing" in Texas, and there were certainly never the elaborate displays of them lining the front of every market in the city.  It wasn't until we moved to Virginia that I even experienced a proper autumn and first fell in love with this beautiful flower, which oddly enough, is my birth flower (November).

Traditionally we've always bought several baskets of them to adorn our porch, last year being the exception since we were in the van. With traveling and the lack of light, it just wasn't practical. When I moved back into the apartment after Christmas I immediately began to look forward to all the seasonal traditions I could indulge in once again, especially this time of year.  But unlike previous years, without a porch to speak of and only one window that gets decent sunlight, I knew that when it came to plants I would have to keep things simple. But that's fine by me, one mum is better than none.

My daughter and I made a trip on Saturday to Lowes to pick up some pumpkins (they have a much better selection than Walmart for about the same price with long curly stems), and I picked out this tiny white mum while were there, as well. Typically I would  have preferred one that was blooming, but since I was only purchasing one I settled on this one with all those tiny baby mum buds so that it will last as long as possible. 

I've been enjoying it today, along with reading the latest edition of Bella Grace magazine, where this article caught my eye, "80 Lost Traditions To Bring Back".  Readers submitted entries which were then selected for publication, and there were several that caught my attention, a few that I honestly hadn't thought of for some time, so I thought I would share a few of my favorites with you.

- Sitting on the porch after supper and waving to all the neighbors. - I have a couple of neighbors here at our apartment complex who regularly stand or sit outside every evening. Being more of an introvert, I don't typically join them, but that's primarily because we are in an apartment. When we lived in the country my husband and I sat on the porch regularly, and I miss it.

- Doing puzzles and playing board games together. - My daughter and I still do this, in fact, we started a brand new 1000 piece puzzle just yesterday and have made quite a bit of progress.

- Sunday morning funny pages.  - This is actually one I had forgotten about and it made me a little sad. I'm a HUGE Peanuts fan and I've read that strip for years, but I don't recall that even being a regular feature in our hometown newspaper in Texas, which caused me to wonder about the strips that were featured. I remembered  Beetle Bailey and Blondie, but then with a little help from Google, I came across one I loved as a child and had completely forgotten about, Tumbleweeds! I won't even deny that I spent the next hour or two searching the internet for the archives and reading them,  and was happy to find that I love it just as much now as I did then! Did you have a favorite comic strip as a child?

- Catching fireflies and putting them in a jar. - I didnt' see many fireflies this year. Did you see any where you live? Fireflies were always one of the official signs of summer growing up. They remain one of my favorite things about the season to this day.

- Photo albums filled with black and white photos. - I simply LOVE black and white photos and thanfully have quite a collection passed down to me from my mother. 

- When Sunday was truly a day of rest. - I'm dating myself here by saying that I remember the "Blue-Law" days, and I miss them. These days people get testy because Chic Fil A and Hobby Lobby aren't opened on Sunday, but when I was growing up, that was the norm for most stores.

- Drive-in Movies with a speaker in the window.  - You can still find a few drives around, and several have made a come-back due to covid. But these days the sound comes through your radio. It's not quite as nostalgic, but I still love going!

- Laying in the grass and looking at the stars. - Some of my fondest memories from my childhood are of the time I spent laying on a blanket under the stars with my daddy and my brother. Mom would join us, too, but she always went in early because the mosquitos liked her the best! :)

- Spinning records on the turn table. - This reminded me that I own a turn table, and a small collection of albums. Time to dust them off!

- Hanging clothes on the line. - Though I never cared for hanging our clothes (especially jeans), on the line, I do love the smell of air-dried sheets. Towels are another thing I don't care to line dry, just too stiff and scratchy for me. Of course this isn't something that's even possible in an apartment. Do you line dry any of your clothes?

So what about you, care to add to the list? Any traditions you'd like to bring back? One of the things that I've learned, especially over the past few years, is that while I have no control over world events and what happen outside of my home, I do have some say in what happens inside our home. I like that I'm a bit "old fashioned" I suppose you could say, and reading this list has inspired me to perhaps embrace that even a little more! I know the bible warns about longing for "the good old days". Did you know that was even in the bible? I didn't until recently. But God also admonished His people; “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it." For me personally, I think there's a lot to be said for the way we used to do things, and I think there is a way to look back on it, not in longing for what we've lost, but with a desire to restore. That's my goal and intention, anyway, and if you consider yourself old-fashioned at heart, I hope you'll join me so we can encourage each other along the way!

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Six Small Things - September 18, 2021

"Life is not, for most of us, a pageant of splendor, but is made up of many small things, rather like an old fashioned piecework quilt. No two people have the same, but we all have our own, whether it be listening to Beethoven's fifth with a beloved friend, or seeing a neighbor at the back door with a basket of white dahlias. Or after a long, hard day, having the family say, "That was a good supper."

- GLADYS TABER

In no particular order, here are six small things that have inspired me this week.

1. I discovered a couple of new blogs this week, including this one, All The Household. So good!

2. And this one, The Holy Days. I am IN LOVE with both of these blogs! So much goodness!

3. And finally, The Lovely Wild, which was a balm for my soul one evening after a particularly hard day.

4. Handcraft a Life You're Delighted To Show Up To, One Step At A Time.  - Great article!

5. September's Song: Supporting Our Emotions In Late Summer. Because we all need a little extra support sometimes.

6. And finally, this out, just today, the autumn edition of The Cultivating Project.  This is hands down one of my favorite seasonal and inspirational resources. I read almost every article, every season!

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The Promise of Psalm 34

 Speaking His truth. Claiming His promises.

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