Autumn Sustains Me

September 25, 2012October 5, 2012 / Ally Bean / 22 Comments

“A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves.

~ Proust

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I’ve never seen a season appear on cue quite as perfectly as Autumn did on Saturday. In the morning during Summer’s last hours the weather was warm + humid around here. I remarked to Z-D that our lawn looked so green that it seemed like Spring. As the morning progressed, I wondered if I should have worn shorts instead of capris. It was that warm.

And then, Summer exited stage left. Enter Fall.

By mid afternoon the wind was gusting and the air had a chill to it. The sky was blue + leaves were blowing all over creation. Pulling into the Kroger parking lot we watched as the wind knocked a Mr. Coffee coffee maker off the bottom of a shopping cart as a woman pushed her shopping cart to her car. It was that windy.

~ • ~

For me, Autumn is the beginning of the year. I find myself relaxed, joyful and mellow during this time of year. I let go of striving and enjoy the results of what I’ve worked on throughout the winter – spring – summer. I review what has succeeded, appreciate what I did, enjoy where I am & prepare for what is to come.

Grounded in the colorful reality that Fall is known for, I’m comfortable thinking about possibility now. Much more so than in January. There’s something about this time of year that helps me get it together and be happy for the chance to embrace change.

Autumn sustains me. Does it do the same thing for you?

~ • ~

What We Didn’t Do Over The Weekend

August 7, 2012September 29, 2012 / Ally Bean / 34 Comments

The weather was supposed to be clear and warm over the weekend. THAT’S WHAT THEY SAID. So I planned accordingly. I thought that we’d take the weekend off from our usual home improvement projects and goof-off instead… but that was not to be.

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I thought that we’d go to a rural county park on the other side of the city. We go there a couple of times a year. We like to walk the trails which take you through groves of wildflowers + into farmlands + beside horse paths + near a stream. But we didn’t do that.

Then on Saturday night I thought that we’d have a cookout for the two of us with burgers + grilled veggies, cold beer and perfectly toasted marshmallows courtesy of moi. I figured that we’d kick back and enjoy our deck for a few hours. But we didn’t do that.

On Sunday morning I thought that we’d go to an outdoor antique show (which is more flea market than an antique show) at a county fair grounds. We like going there because it’s filled with all sorts of old stuff and costs only $3.00 per person. It’s a fun way to get lost in time. But we didn’t do that.

Then on Sunday afternoon I thought that we’d spend some time sitting down in The Spoon [the lowest level of our terraced ~~forest~~ backyard]. I figured that we could just do nothing or read our books or play some backgammon or whatever. But we didn’t do that.

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All of which leads me to the real point of this post that: PLANS CHANGE OFTEN. And that instead of grumbling about this truth, I’d do well to remember the following Rules of Life by Robin Patricia Williams that I keep on a sticky note on my desktop because, well— they are the rules of life. And because, clearly, I need to refer to them often.

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As some of you have figured out already, I’ve had quite a bit of difficulty getting the following to show up here on this post. I’m going to try it one. more. time. Then if it doesn’t work, I’m going to go drown my sorrows in a cold adult beverage. Of course, if it does work, there’s a good chance that I’m going to go celebrate my victory with a cold adult beverage. From my point of view, this last attempt at posting The [Revised] Rules of Life is a no-lose proposition.