Come Out and Play

            There is a coolness in the air, golden hues in the trees and a joy on children’s faces as they run through falling leaves.  Summer has slipped into autumn.  The days are shorter, the nights are cool, crops are harvested, parties are planned, there is soup on the stove, bread in the oven, pie on the sill and smiles on the faces of passers-by.

            There is a promise of plenty: rain to fill the streams, nuts, grains and fruit to fill the pantry.  There is a promise of time: time with family, time with friends, time to pause and give thanks, time to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us before the cold and bare of winter.

            Squirrels are busily burying nuts and lining their nests.  Bears are foraging and shopping for caves.  Turtles are slowing from their warm summer pace, birds are flying south, and flowers and trees are sending their seeds to find new homes before the sleep of winter.  Change is in the air.

            Autumn is, to me, an invitation.  I sit at my desk as a branch taps the sill, “Can you come out and play?”  It seems a perfect chance to take a run, walk through the park or through the town, meet a friend for lunch, ride my bike, shuffle through leaves, or simply be, with the wind in my hair and the sun on my face.  Outside, the wind swirls the leaves through the sunlight; red and gold, green and brown, light and shade.  There is great joy in the breeze.  “It is autumn.  Come out and play.”

Isabella Stewart



Guilty as Charged

            I recently had the pleasure of visiting with a woman working in a local shop.  I have always enjoyed her conversation.  She seems kind, funny, open and down to earth.   This last week the planets were aligned that we would meet.  The store was quiet, and we had a chance to visit about cards, business, family, phones and humanity.

            This young woman, though “not a Millennial,” was able to take my phone and in the blink of an eye work some social media magic that I was currently paying for a class to learn.  I don’t know how she did it, but it truly was magical to this technologically impaired Boomer.  After this amazing display of her skills, she shared that she had recently put her smart phone away and was using a flip phone for the next year.  In the short time that she had given up the smart phone, she had noticed a change in her life, she had so much more time.  Time for her children, time for her friends, time for her husband, time for her work, time for her chores, time to connect with others and time to change the world.

            I was so impressed and knew that I should follow her example, but listed my ever so pertinent reasons, starting with my new, one-woman-show of a business.  I need to be able to deal with my website wherever I might be.   That said, I could buy a lap top or pad but…  Oh, my list goes on.  Right or wrong, I will continue to use my smart phone to some degree.  But I digress, and you don’t yet know it.

            As we were parting ways, this young woman told me that she had a blog, that she was a woman of faith and that she cussed.  I paused and briefly contemplated the woman of faith before me.  That usually meant one went to a church of some kind.  It could mean she was spiritual, the box I choose for myself, or maybe she simply had faith that all would be right with the world.   And she cussed… such lovely juxtaposition.

            Upon reading her blog (yes, on my smart phone in an easy chair), I was touched by her mission to write, her honesty, sincerity and her ability to call a spade a spade (and I’m talking shovels).  This young woman is a Christian, in the way Christianity is in theory, but so often not in practice.  She explains her use of “a woman of faith” in place of “a Christian.”   She points out that people often cringe or recoil when she uses the word Christian.  She notes the perception of Christians as judgmental, hypocritical, racist, bigoted, anti-abortion, and ant-gay, a virtually unyielding barrier. It saddened me to realize that I was guilty, I was a cringer. 

The word Christian has been hi-jacked somewhere along the way for manipulation of the masses and political gain. Yet, that is a blog for another day or another site.

I am simply thankful for the gentle eye opening and opportunity for introspection.  We all have our paths to walk.  A path of kindness, honesty, love, laughter and joy is one to be admired.    Whatever the trail that takes one there, seems to me, a path worth traveling.

Isabella