I love fall!! but I equally love the other 3 seasons also! I also love the seasons of my own life although at times I'm eager for a change of season! Right now, I'm thinking how wise the plan is in it's divinity. Practical things like the Awareness that there comes a day, a specific time, that you no longer tend babies or bear babies, but you rather naturally transition to tending adults on varying levels.
Such as...My daughter and her hubby just finished moving his mother, starting to be brain-riddled with dementia, into a safe place. Lots to tend to there! My sweet hubby is still battling Rx side- effects residue, that manifests itself in high BP/irregular heartbeat/racing pulse. Lots to tend to there! My sister has been in the hospital with endless tests and probes and blood draws in trying to help her oxygen level to behave. Tests prove, thus far, to be okay. As the mystery reveals itself & tests go on, there is certainly a lot to tend to there!
That is life. My life. Your life. Our life. We can do it! We can tend and be bumped around but then we can thrive and regroup.
Gratitude. I think gratitude is key, don't you?
Natalie, sent me a lovely letter (thanks so much!) and at the end she penned...Getting older is just not for sissies! Oh the other hand, I think as a general rule our life experiences have given us what we need to cope. Those of us who are blessed to have the gospel in our lives have been given extra tools to do that.
Cope...great power with that skill! My sister says ...we just have to deal with things.
Whether we choose to deal or to cope the bottom line is- life goes on and we have to figure things out...sit and bawl/squall/temper-tantrum fit OR stop the pity party and figure out our plan.
Right now I'm filled with gratitude. I feel peace. I'm happy on many levels. Not exactly ringing the joy bell but feeling good. Happy!
When I look at the trees and the vineyards and the orchards and the sky and the loveliness of small town living...happy!! The wind blowing leaves and the sun shining and the crisp cool air...happy.
How blessed I am to be me! To live here! To have the Gospel! To feel the Spirit! To feel peace within, in spite of chaos and confusion, in the world! To have a Church house nearby and a Temple nearby!! To have shelter and food and clothes and a car and a truck and all those things that I consider necessities!
The changing weather reminds me, that I too will change in the seasons of my life, and even in my winter there is such beauty and homeyness and a sense of safety and security and protection.
This weather makes me feel cozy and makes me feel my nesting instincts surfacing. It's soup weather!! It's wood heat weather! It's reminiscing weather of my childhood and other years of living in Alaska. When I was a girl, Alaska always had so much snow every winter. Slowly there seemed to be less and less but still the cold and ice were relentless.
Bread baking and cookie making weather.
In this nurture/nesting feeling I've made two new soups. I'm thinking sometimes people have to acquire a taste for new foods. Hubby, really enjoyed one and gave the other one a snub! The one he enjoyed was Gumbo! and the one he only did a spoonful taste test on, and immediately voted thumbs down, was a Lentil soup.
I'd never cooked Gumbo and had only heard that Okra (the name for Gumbo) was slimy. I found it's not slimy at all, it releases a sticky starch-like substance that thickens and flavors your soup. Well, it was absolutely delicious. I'd always heard about Gumbo and now I know why people love this veggie soup so much. I made a brown base one and not a red base.
To the Hubby's credit...he has never liked Lentils. Ever. I have another really good Lentil soup recipe and he can't stand that one so it's not surprising that he doesn't like this new one. I appreciated him giving it a try. I was surprised at how good it was (I know. brag. brag.) Are lentils an acquired taste?
I continue to be impressed with the power of a family meal. sitting at the table and eating together. a real time of being together and eating and talking. Things had been really hectic/stressful here and Terry was at the hospital and all that sort of thing. I decided to make that Gumbo and our son came over and the 3 of us had such a great time just sitting and eating a bowl of Gumbo. it was relaxing and pleasant and made for such good conversation and enjoyment of each others company. We could visit and unwind and laugh a bit and savor the goodness of a home cooked meal. I think we could have had the same feelings (well, almost!) if we had Chinese take-out but still sat down and ate at the table together.
Whatever season of life you are in...enjoy it now, as fully as you can, as you are absolutely guaranteed that it will not last forever.
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