Sunday, September 04, 2016

Sunday Afternoon Tea - Hitting the Home Key

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The turn of the calendar brought with it cool breezes coming through the window as I washed the breakfast dishes.  I've been waiting for this day all summer long.  This cool down is temporary as heat returns on Labor day.  However, the calendar now shows the month of September so we are close to that which my heart longs.

I adore the Autumn months, so much that to me they are the true beginning of the Holiday season.  Especially those weeks when there is color everywhere I look and the forest shows off all her finery.  There is a great deal to look forward to in the coming weeks, once summer has let go of its' warmth for this year.

There is something about September that brings my thoughts back to home.  One may travel in the heat of the summer, to the lake or the sea or even perhaps a river flowing with the promise of tonight's meal.  It seems that just about everyone I know goes somewhere in the summer months.

Not so much once school begins, unless it is going somewhere to view the "color".  The cooler weather returns my thoughts to my kitchen as once again soup simmers on the stove and bread is baked in the oven and a throw is needed over my shoulders as I open the pages of a novel.

My preferred rereading changes with the cooler weather as I reach for a couple Gladys Taber books to leave on the coffee table and perhaps a Mitford novel that allows me to travel to a place I'd love to live with people who would make the most delightful... albeit interesting... neighbors.

It is a little early to purchase a rust colored mum for the porch if I want it to last through true Autumn.  While the calendar says September, the weather forecast brings us heat indexes well into the 90s.  There will be time for mums and pumpkins and Indian corn and the taking down of the box labeled "Fall Decorations" from the shelf where it has resided since tucking it away when the Christmas boxes came out.

This time of year held a bit of melancholia for my mother and the more years I have in the rear view window, the more my mother's melancholia slips in to my thinking.  I'm not sure why... perhaps it is the end of the season of growth... perhaps it is the falling leaves in the forest... we who have lived through many an end of summer know winter is on the way.

Even given that, we are on the cusp of my very favorite season.  One that brings such delights as pumpkin spice lattes (no, I haven't had one, yet) and the return of cinnamon and nutmeg and pumpkin and hot apple cider and apples and acorn squash and butternut squash and the other flavors best known during this time of the year.

The beginning of September always seems to cause me to come home in my thoughts.  It reminds me of when I had a laptop computer and the Home key was located in a place on the keyboard where I would occasionally hit it by accident.  Suddenly my typing was back at the beginning of whatever was being written.  I had hit Home quite by accident.

September is the calendar equivalent of the Home key in the days and weeks and months of my life.  Perhaps it is simply that the school year would always begin the day after Labor Day.  In my teen years, I couldn't wait until the September Back to School issue of Seventeen magazine could be found on the newsstands.  September was when we would get new clothes and new shoes and a brand new box of Crayola crayons.

These are but a few of many embedded memories that bring a sense of... coming back and coming home... thoughts of beginnings.

I may this week... regardless of what the thermostat says outside... pull a Taber book off the shelf, fill one of my red plaid Thermos containers with hot apple cider, play the George Strait CD in the van (for Country was the genre of music played at home), and find a cool spot under a tree to read and ponder and remember.

Remembering only the good stuff of home, family, dear friends, and how far God has brought us in His mercy and His grace.  Until that day He calls me... Home.  Maranatha.

14 comments:

Vee said...

Brenda, you write beautifully. I read this through and then felt that I wished to read it aloud as I sometimes did for John just to get the flow and cadence of the words. I read through with some emotion at times and positively choked at the end. Oh, yes, you captured the anticipation of all that is to come so very well.

Anonymous said...

Have always loved the breezy weather and falling leaves of Fall...my favorite season too!! Ours has already begun here in our area...not many leaves off yet, but very chilly nights already and though days are warm, many times the cool breezes are here too!! NICE!!

Debbie said...

Fall, my favorite time of year! It has cooled down here and the leaves are changing colors. Last night we dipped down into the high 30's...perfect temperatures for adding another quilt to the bed and for hot tubbing at night while my hubby and I share what is on our hearts.

Anonymous said...

Reading your post today makes me feel all melancholy! I love the light and angle of the sun in the fall, as well as the crisp, cool nights, which we are already experiencing. Foggy mornings keep the house chilly until afternoon and we even had to turn on the heat this morn! It's the harvest season for our garden, too! I've been busy freezing green beans and making applesauce and eating tomatoes left and right! I got out my latest Gladys Tabor find and read her chapter for September over the week-end. So comforting to read of simpler times, although they had their worries about the state of the world then, as well. I've noticed the color changing in some of the trees, so I suppose I'll soon be getting out my fall decor, too. And then the holidays will follow close behind! Sigh....(Ooops! Getting ahead of myself, here! One season at a time!) Take care of that foot!
Blessings,
Laura C. (WA)

Kellylynn said...

Oh my goodness...Amen. You always make me tear up and smile at the same time.
I wish I could treat you to that first pumpkin spiced latte of the season. :)
Thank you for the joy your words brought me today.

Sandi said...

This was just beautiful to read. You make me thing if all things autumn, leaves from the trees, lattes from the quiet of the Starbucks in town, candles...introspective thoughts that seem to hide the heat of summer, but emerge in the cool of fall and beg to be written down. I'm sorry to hear about the melancholia...maybe it helps us heal?

Kim said...

Thank you for this! You make me long for slower days in the coming months. I will try to free up some time to slow down. I love your writing. It makes me wish for a simpler life. I don't know if that is your intent, but I mean it as a complement. =)

Sunshine said...

I haven't been to my favorite spots in so long...this was such a lovely post to return to. I have missed reading and so look forward to catching up on your posts!!! Sunshine

Ann said...

Reminiscing of times growing up in New England -- such a perfect time of year. Now in Lake Havasu, AZ, we are looking at another day over 100 degrees, but there is that change in the morning air and the slant of the sun as it makes its journey across the sky that tells me fall is (eventually) coming even here on the desert.

Anonymous said...

You brought tears to my eyes today. Your a woman who holds a dear place in my heart as you and I have the same interests and loves. Though we have never met I feel we are kindred spirits through your posts.

Heather LeFebvre said...

I think you are a modern day Gladys Taber! This post sounded just like her, although I like your added Christian perspective!!

Nancy said...

This post is why I read your blog.

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

Autumn brings me joy every year. I love everything about it.

The heat here has me sipping Apple Cider cold for now! I have some decor out, as I had company and the summer decor was tired. The real mums and pumpkins will wait though, because of the heat.

I love this post, and I love your beautiful heart.

PJ Geek said...

I had the same seventeen magazine thing as you. I get over Pumpkinated/Autumnated if I start too early. I have a rule : no pumpkin until the night time temps hit 59 or below. It delays the pumpkining or I'd be burned out before Halloween. the box of Fall decorations is ready to go.

Happy Fall Ya'll