Autumn Pleasures

I love Autumn...

I love the colours of the leaves as they turn from green to reds and yellows and browns.

I love the fresh crisp air when I go on morning walks.

I love the smell of burning wood that comes from the chimneys of homes near me.

I love being able to wear my favourite sweaters and be perfectly warm.

I love the seasonal recipes filled with warmth and safety.

I love the sound of the wind singing at night.

I love sinking into a hot bath after a long walk.

I love raking the fallen leaves into a huge pile and falling back into it like I did as a child.

These are the simple pleasures that I enjoy every year. The things that make each Autumn precious to me. I'll admit that I tend to busy myself with the less important things and forget the more meaningful. I believe there's a cliché that states we should stop to smell the roses. Easier said than done in today's day and age. We are all so busy with our everyday lives that we forget to slow down and enjoy things, most especially the little and simplistic things.

Maybe it's time to change that. These are uncertain times for the world and we never know what lies ahead. We also never know when we will be in our final day, and I know this also sounds cliché, but we must make the most of it. Let's all slow down a bit and enjoy the simple things.

Here's a small writing titled 'Brief Pleasures' for your reading pleasures:

• Splitting a hunk of cedar into perfect fragrant strips of kindling on a crisp autumn day and stacking it in neat piles.
• A sudden overwhelming awareness of the goodness of another person.
• Looking up a word in the dictionary and getting sidetracked by another word. In 1932 Webster's, in the list of New Words, one finds flivverboob: driver of a flivver.
• The sound made by a tennis ball when it smacks the sweet spot.
• Making a delicious and nutritious dinner that costs next to nothing.
• A cool hand on a fevered brow.
• The smell of wood smoke in my hair and clothes after and evening with friends around a beach fire.
• The lightness you feel after a long, snowy winter when you get up one morning and you don't have to put on long underwear.
• Being asked just the right question by a friend who knows what it is you really want to talk about and opens the way for you.
• Fanning out a bridge hand, finding it full of faces and aces and smiling inside while keeping a straight face.
• The momentary ruby flash of a hovering sunlit humming bird against green trees after a spring rain.
• Having the whole family in one bed on a Sunday morning.
• Climbing into cold sheets after a hot bath.
• The smell of dusty sidewalks after a spring rain, carrying so many exciting aromas I can imagine for a moment what it must be like to have a dog's nose.
• The first ride from the airport in a taxi in a strange city halfway around the world late in the evening.
• Peeling the wax off a round of cheese.

~ Autumn section from Simple Pleasures: Soothing Suggestions and Small Comforts for Living Well Year Round

Here's to a happy Autumn. Have fun with family and friend. And keep the pumpkin pie coming until you can't look at it until next Autumn!

ke7ejx.