Fall

It is a rainy October day, the thought-provocative kind that piques the senses.  Finally, finally a chill has kissed the air and I am happily settling into the season.  Today I drove across ribbons of an old highway, high into the hills and along the bluffs, following the river.  Lovely.   How beautifully leaves grow old.  How full of light and color are their last days.  ~John Burroughs  These are the vistas that find their way into books.  The scenery itself has a story to tell...

I am now sitting with a mug and a laptop, making an attempt to study.  My focus, though, is not on academia at the moment.  (Instead, I am thinking back over my happy day.)  I am at the bookstore [*sigh*] and my determination to stay seated and remain far from the stacks is waning.  I confess:  I am a bibliophile.  I love the feel of books, the smell of books, the sight of them on my shelves...  Most of all, I love the words.  Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.  ~William Wordsworth  With that, I must go for now.  A book (or two or three) is calling my name.  The polite response, as always, is to answer.  

Part Two:  

I perused a few books but refrained from making a purchase.  Self control is not my forte but this afternoon I managed to conjure a wee bit.  Later, I enjoyed some Chinese food with my daughter.  My fortune cookie summarized my life story:  "Be prepared to modify the plan."  The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.  ~William Arthur Ward

A storm is brewing and I'm off  to relax with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and listen to the rain.  I'm also going to make plans for this:

October.  Nice.  ~S.

Source: cookinupnorth.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

 

Aweigh

Source: etsy.com via Sarah-Keel on Pinterest

   

 Love, love, love...

And I love this too...a print that reminds me of my childhood, just a decade or two (or more) ago: 

Source: etsy.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

 I cherish my childish loves--the memory of that warm little nest where my affections were fledged.

George Eliot, Theophrastus Such

Source: plainchicken.com via Audrey on Pinterest

Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pulls

(Crack Bread) 

1 unsliced loaf of (round is preferable) sourdough bread

8-12 oz cheddar cheese, thinly sliced

3 oz bag Oscar Mayer Real Bacon bits

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 Tbsp Ranch dressing mix

Using a sharp bread knife cut the bread going both directions. Do not cut through the bottom crust. Place slices of cheese in between cuts. Sprinkle bacon bits on bread, making sure to get in between cuts. Mix together butter and Ranch dressing mix. Pour over bread. Wrap in foil the entire loaf in foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. 

This weekend, this  recipe!  From morning till night, sounds drift from the kitchen, most of them familiar and comforting....On days when warmth is the most important need of the human heart, the kitchen is the place you can find it...  ~E.B.White (1899-1985)

The weekend is here and I am so, so happy.  This time, I have three whole days to catch up on laundry and chores, followed by time to read and write, and read and write some more.  Leadership Theory and Practice, Leadership Theory  and Practice Application, and Professional Seminar One...I am feeling the weight of so much coursework and yet I find it invigorating.  Somewhere in the midst of all this excitement, I am determined to enjoyed the crisp Autumn air and the laughter of my children. 

All things on earth point home in old October: sailors to sea, travelers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he has forsaken.  ~Thomas Wolfe  

~S.

Young...at Heart

Children are the hands by which we take hold of Heaven.  ~Henry Ward Beecher   There is something that happens to me each and every weekday now, something that brings a smile to my heart.  My youngest child is a student at "my" school, the one at which I teach.  This means she is never far away, and always, always, she finds me to deliver a hug.  Her classmates then greet me...  "Hi, Lane's Mom," they say.  To them, I am not their potential future teacher.  I am simply "Lane's Mom."  That, most definitely, is good enough for me.  Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself... You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. ~Kahlil Gibran

*     *     *

A child's world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood.  ~Rachel Carson  

Fortunately, for some of us, this is untrue.  Rather,

Youth is a perpetual intoxication; it is a fever of the mind.  ~Francois Duc de La Rochefoucauld  I know this is true.  How?  Two words:  Gerard Butler.  Uh huh.  I was perusing a favorite blogger's site, Lisa Leonard Designs, and here's what I found.  Yep.

Source: lisaleonardonline.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

And finally, this note to self.  

Read.  Repeat.  Believe.  

Believe:

“When I say, 'I love you,' it's not because I want you or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman.” ~Joss Whedon

That's all.  For now.  xo, ~S.