Fall-ing Behind; Fall-ing Into Place

The seasons keep rolling around whether or not I am ready for them to change or prepared to admit that another season has passed. To say nothing about whether or not I am ready for the new one. (Well, yesterday I did take a first step toward the Christmas season by going to an antique mall that was all decked out with temptations and inspirations.  So I do have several bags of goodies toward that end.)  But I am not letting go of Fall just yet.  I am hanging on until after Thanksgiving and then I will let go.Most of my days hover around my grandchildren, three of whom I have for daycare.       

    It is a privilege to share this part of their lives and I am thankful for the trust of their parents. This Fall was extra special because of the arrival of baby Henry James in October. He is baby brother to Tillie, grandchild #5 for us.  Okay, I will show you a picture! (Thanks for asking.)

But other special events have adorned this Fall, also. We had our 36th anniversary and went to Victoria, BC for a week with friends. It wasn’t really an anniversary trip, just our (annual) excuse to have a vacation.  Once again, Victoria shone down on us and we had glorious days of walking in the sunshine and having excursions to the BC Museum, Butchart Gardens, the Victoria Art Gallery, and of course the tea shops.   I have enough photos of each to do  separate blogs but I’m not sure if I have enough time before Christmas with the seasons rolling around as relentlessly as they do.

I have so many things to think and write about, Emily Carr, for instance. She was a Victoria native, now dead, who fascinates me in many ways.  I will resist the temptation to be diverted until I can do her justice, which involves reading several of her books, which isn’t going to happen right now because Christmas is coming but I still have to clean house and grocery shop and decorate for Thanksgiving, doncha know.

And then there is Reverend Gridge, late, of Victoria who is a hero in my mind and whom I would also like to think and write about, but his story is complex and I. cannot. go. there. Not right now. Not write now, I might say.  Oh, so many things…

This Fall also had the delights of a visit from my college friend and my high school friend.My college friend is a fantastic quilter and led me into temptations in the fabric stores which has increased my stash of fabric and my head full of ideas but has not, so far, actually produced any finished works.  Sigh.  And Christmas is coming…  

My high school friend led me into temptations at the Waffle Window! A lot of what takes up my days, besides the grandkids, are things I don’t take pictures of: church activities, planning and doing our women’s Bible study, and occasionally having coffee with friends. I want to read more, get through the ever-growing stack of new books I have.  I want to paint more, sew more, have coffee with friends more, see Henry and Tillie more, spend more time with my grown up kids and my aging dad. More, more, more. I guess that is why I don’t want the seasons to change.  I don’t even want the day to change until I get more done. I want the hour to be longer.  I want the sun to stand still in the sky until I get caught up with my books and my fabric stash.  I want Christmas to back off and wait a minute! But I am thankful.  Not just because the holiday tells me to be, I am thankful for the days I have, the hours I have, the pleasures in life and all the delights in my privileged circumstances.  Even though there could be things to fuss about, they are minor compared to the rest of the world.  Some people spend their hours and days just trying to stay alive and keep their kids fed.  I heard a statistic recently that “If you can read this, you are one of the privileged few in the world.” Yes, I am

Thankful !