HAPPY NEW YEAR! - Welcome 2018

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." –Mark Twain

As we approach the 2018, many people believe it’s time to look back at the past year, make corrections, and formulate resolutions for the New Year. We humans seem to need a beginning when we want to start something new—be it a skill, task, hobby, or exercise program. Dieting, for instance. How many people have you heard say, “I’m going on a diet next week…or on Monday”? After all, who starts dieting on Saturday night while sitting in a restaurant with a glass of wine and a menu that screams calories for the weak without willpower?

A beginning in our mind is always a mental picture of a first—the first day of the week or of the month, when the kids leave and you have free time, when winter ends and spring begins. The new year provides people with a clean slate and a place to start something new or to try to cast off an old vice. That’s where resolutions come into play.

Are you a resolution maker? I’m not.

I’m thinking the 2018 is a time to set some relaxed, even movable goals and explore some activities I’ve always wanted to do, but have put on the back burner. This year I’m focusing on what Mark Twain so elegantly said. I’m taking 2018 to explore, dream, discover and do new things I’ve sworn I was going to do “someday.” You know which someday I’m talking about, don’t you? The one that is really an enigmatic place in the future, without a day, month, or even year specified.  

 

My someday activities may include writing some short stories, returning to my wood shop, trying my hand at raising some herbs, reading more nonfiction, visiting some new places, watching more sunsets and enjoying nature.

What are your resolutions—or goals and activities—for the coming year? And let me know what “someday” interests you have on the back burner.

The Richness of Autumn

When September rolls around with its misty mellow mornings and chilly nights, our thoughts turn to the richness of autumn. It's one of my favorite seasons in Central Pennsylvania. It’s the smell of curling smoke from chimneys, ripe apples fallen from the tree, foods laced with cinnamon and vanilla, and of course, the smell of earth with its drying leaves.

Goldenrod, Queen Anne’s lace, and russet sumac line our roadways. Maple leaves slowly change from luscious green to yellow and crimson and orange, while poplar and birch shiver in the crisp breezes, their leaves shimmering like gold coins.

Fields of grass, mown months ago in summer, are now fading to bronze and brown. In the gardens, tangerine pumpkins lay with withered leaves, ready to be picked, stored, or made into smiling October Jack-O-Lanterns.

If you pause and listen, there are crickets and night insects still hiding in the grass and chirping at dusk. Overhead, geese honk and search for a field to find food, knowing it’s too early to wing their way southward. Even though the joyful sweet chorus of the songbirds has faded, if you’re lucky—or not—a cardinal or bluebird will squawk out a complaint to let you know they are still nearby. In the tall pines, the annoying, relentless calls of the crows echo in the air.

Red apples, orange bittersweet, yellow sunflowers, blue skies, purple grapes, brown acorns, black nights and white frosted mornings are all part of the assortment of colors, sights and smells that shout autumn is near...get ready!

Twenty Minutes to Relax

In a workshop a long time ago when I worked with adult learners, a speaker once said that every individual, no matter what occupation, needs 20-30 minutes each day to devote to himself or herself. And you should use the twenty-minute allotment for whatever you deem important at the moment: meditation, daydreaming, reading, knitting, woodworking, fishing, sketching, tinkering, puzzles and mind games—whatever makes you feel happy. Anything, that is, besides using an electronic device to access social media. Why?

In a very hectic world, man needs time for peace, quiet, and reflection.  He needs time for observing the world around him, utilizing his senses--eyes, ears, nose, touch, and taste. There is something calming in being able to “zone out” in your favorite activity. To listen to the birds. To smell the petunias and phlox in blossom. To stare at the clouds in a cobalt blue sky. To taste the first blackberries of summer. Or to touch a fuzzy little kitten.

Let’s face it, vacations can be as hectic as everyday life as we scurry around to see and do everything before our time runs out, and we have to go back to the ol’ grind of daily life with our “selfies and hundred digital pictures” in hand to bore our friends.

When my children were little and bedtime rolled around, I always took time to sit down, grab a cup of coffee, and read. Why read? Because I could be transported away from the humdrum of here and now, and I could step off into another world. I could leave my problems behind and get a smile, laugh, or some good vibes, especially from a book with a happily-ever-after ending.

Lately, I’ve been at a standstill with my writing. I can’t decide whether it’s the heat of summer, the reality that summer is slowly slipping away, or just that I need to take a break, but something keeps me from the keyboard.

I do know twenty to thirty minutes sitting out on my patio on my wicker swing does wonders for my attitude. So come on over and rest awhile with me while we take some time to renew our energy and mindset. Or grab twenty minutes in your favorite spot and leave your troubles at bay for a short time.