Good Saturday to you on this last weekend of September! The weather? Tuesday it was 92 degrees and felt like 98 degrees. We were breaking records! Yesterday the high was 56 degrees and rainy......September!! We have noticed a few trees are turning a golden color. I'm looking forward to the explosion of color that is coming our way as fall continues and September 22nd, the first day of Fall has come and gone making it official.
Speaking of Fall, our mums are blooming a bright yellow/gold and an orange/yellow as they stand proudly in front of our porch. Our red geranium is blooming again, and our fern is still full and beautiful. All the rest of our potted flower plants we have said farewell to. We hope to head out to a pumpkin patch soon to gather up pumpkins for our front porch steps and gourds for the house. I have laid out a table cover that my sister-in-law gave me. She is an excellent quilter. Our fall pillow slip cover is out and our little pumpkin pillow, along with other fall decorations. Not too many but enough to announce that Fall has arrived!
This past week we went to the local park and enjoyed all the plants and bushes that are still blooming. So many marigolds this time of year. Joel got in a couple of bike rides and and I have walked daily inside or outside depending on the elements. Doctors and a dentist were part of the equation too. And a lot of searching for a mini fridge to replace our old fridge that now has a continually running motor. Spendy. Why do two people need a second fridge? Well, we don't really except that we buy in bulk food items we cannot get in our corner of the world. We drive nearly two hours north to pick up almonds and cashews, almond butters, organic applesauce, almond flours, etc. and we buy for 4 months at a time. Yeah, it saves us that much money to do so. Thus the second fridge, but what we purchased in a 4.5 cu. ft one with a designated freezer. It will work just fine and we were happy to find it. Used fridges? Near impossible to find! I will say, only in America does a couple in their 70's have a second fridge to hold the excess.
As I wrote this a visual memory popped up of two children, around ages 5 and 6, who were digging through our garbage can in The Philippines. They were sent out looking for food....."wealthy" Americans throw away a lot of stuff they would devour if they had the chance. They visited our garbage more than a few times. One day a garbage truck broke down on road on the side of our house. I watched Filipino men dig through the piled garbage, then build a fire and warm up what was there and eat it, Two men got into a fight over what they had found. Needless to say, it was an eye opener to see this unfolding. I think it subtly put me on a course to use up our food....eat our leftovers.....try not to waste anything we were privileged to fill our plates with. So long ago............but such vivid memories.
Speaking of memories, our oldest and her family purchased a Christmas present for us where we answer questions given to us weekly, and it is put in a bound book. This week's question was to ask how our country has changed in our lifetime!~! I think a person could write a whole book on just that one question. What has NOT changed in the past 74 years would be easier to define. Haha It had us both thinking about all the changes with cars, appliances, careers, TV's, phones ~especially phones~ politics, civil rights, and so much more. One vivid thing for me that came up was the invention of cell phones. I can remember when we had to limit our "long distance" phone calls. Talking to my mom, even after seven pm when it was cheaper, would cost $20. We called home once from The Philippines in two years and talking 5 minutes was $40. The phone bill could easily run into the hundreds if you were not careful. So many changes in our world..............many good.........still too many bad. It gets you thinking doesn't it? One conference speaker I listen often asks how many people under the age of 30 are in the audience. She will then talk about church pews and to the younger crowd explain what they were! Ha....SO many churches have very comfortable chairs and even cup holders! I confess, I prefer the cushy chairs!!
So today I am grateful for cushy chairs when I get them. Grateful for cell phones that make it possible to call anytime...and receive amazing photos. Grateful for Fall arriving. Grateful for our plates being "full", having excess for a mini fridge, for colorful mums, questions that make us remember and pause, for bike rides and walks, for phone calls from every one of our kids last week! Giving thanks for our oldest granddaughter's birthday, our oldest daughter's recovery going so well. Grateful for naps, a good night's sleep, buying in bulk, waking to a new sunrise every day....and so much more.
No comments:
Post a Comment