Red Leaves of Autumn

© Les Taylor Photo (Thanks, Leslie!)

What exactly would be the seasonal opposite of "Spring has Sprung"?  I'm not sure what cute name it would be given, but I saw a lovely example of it today.  See, here in the South we have relatively mild falls and winters, and many of our trees never do the color change routine that is so common to places farther north.  To see a tree in full fall "bloom" is somewhat of a rarity here.

It rained—well, drizzled—for most of the day today. There was very little blue sky, and what did show was in little bits that were quickly swallowed up again with more dark clouds.

Shortly before our school dismissed today, the rain finally let up in that part of town.  As I was loading my bags into my car to head home, I glanced over at a tree in the center median of the faculty parking lot, and immediately wished I had had my camera in my purse.  There, in the parking lot of the school, one of our small and normally-green trees had burst into a full coat of red leaves for fall.  I took a picture with my phone, the only camera I had available, and wanted to share it here along with a poem I discovered a few years ago!

Spring Equinox: Life in Balance

For generations, the arrival of Spring has signaled the start of a time for renewal, for cleaning, and for refreshing.  It's the time when we begin to shake off the winter gloom and turn our thoughts toward the bright happiness of lengthening days.

The onset of Spring is a time of balance, both universally and personally.  In our solar system, the first day of Spring is the day when the sun is most-directly above the equator—rather, the equator most-directly faces the sun—causing night and day to be equal in length.  Today I will live half my day in the light of the sun, the other half in nighttime darkness.

In some ways, I think my body sensed the equinox even while I was still asleep last night.  I awoke refreshed, for the first time in a long while, even though I got less actual sleep than on a typical night.  Upon waking, I felt instantly wide awake, determined to have a productive day, ready to get up and being Spring.

From time to time we all get that feeling that we are precariously perched on the edge of some unstable precipice.  Our footing wobbles and we know that at any minute one wrong step could plunge us over the side into some dark abyss from which there is no simple escape.  We are faced with hundreds of decisions every day, every one of which determines the course of our lives.  The goal, through all of our decision making, is to keep things balanced so that we can move toward our goals and accomplish those things which are most important to us.

So, how do we get there?  How do we achieve this all-important balance we all need?

Unfortunately, this is a question that we each must answer on our own.  I cannot tell you how to find your perfect balance point.  In truth, I am still searching for my own.  I do know that I feel like I'm moving in the right direction.  I have finally identified what things make me happy and what leaves me feeling empty.

What is it that brings balance into your life?  Identify it, then do whatever you must to move in the direction of your happiness.  Take advantage of the promise of Spring, the promise of new life all around you, and let the warm breezes of the season breathe renewed enthusiasm into your journey toward balance.

2011: A Year of Firsts and New Experiences

The Pensacola Pelican Drop Pelican

Here we are at the end of 2011.  At some times during this past year, the days have seemed to fly by; at others, time seems to have been moving soooo sloooowly.  But slow or fast, the time has passed.  It's time to close the book on 2011 and prepare for 2012.

At the end of 2010, I blogged about the year in a post entitled "The Obligatory Year-End Blog Post."  The title, of course, was to make a joke of the fact that pretty much every blogger of any kind writes a New Year or End-of-Year post.  But after putting a lot of work into my blog this year, updating and formatting and improving and writing more often, I've come to see that blogging isn't such a joke.  Even if no one else cares to read my writings, I've learned that writing is my therapy.  Any time I've had a bad day, a good day, a boring day, a challenging day, or any other sort of ordinary or not-so-ordinary day, I can use my blog as a place to chronicle the events of Kaleb's and my life.  And on particularly emotional days, writing is more cathartic than crying, more of a release than talking, and more comforting -- and healthier -- than all the standard comfort foods.

Originally, I had planned to wait and post this on New Year's Eve, but I've decided to go ahead and post a little ahead of schedule.

And so, as we launch into 2012, here is my look back at the past year:

Christmas for My Child

In a couple of weeks, Kaleb will be turning 3 years old!  I can't believe how fast he is growing up.  And as Kaleb grows up, his desire to know everything about the world around him only increases.  As a parent, this is both exciting and frightening for me, as those of you who are parents are sure to understand.  I'm excited that he has such an appetite for knowledge; I'm entertained, and often amused, at his fascination with new things and the innocent ways he interprets the new things he sees; and I'm scared to death of all the many bad things there are in the world that he will eventually learn about.

One of the hardest things I have to decide as Kaleb's mother -- and I'm sure this is a personal struggle for most parents -- is deciding what to teach Kaleb, when to teach it, and what interpretations to teach him.  This year, for the first time, Kaleb is starting to understand that there is something special going on that has something to do with this 'Christmas' word he hears all around him.  But what does it mean?

Obviously, with my particular spiritual beliefs, teaching about Jesus will never be an issue.  The "real" holiday for us is the celebration of Yule, which is a more private affair on the day of the winter solstice, and certainly not something catered to by retail.  He'll learn, without being taught, that it is a time for family and charity to others.  When he's older, I'll teach him about that at the same time we discuss other things believed by people with different faiths.  The bigger concern for me is how or what to teach Kaleb about Santa Claus...and I'll have to teach him something because, this time of year, Santa is everywhere.

I grew up in an active church-going family, so I was raised with the story of the baby in the manger.  And our family was also a Santa family.  Stockings were mysteriously filled by Santa Claus as we slept and a few extra presents would also appear under the tree that night, wrapped in paper totally unlike the other gifts and with "fancy" gift tags bearing our names in unfamiliar handwriting.  As a small child, I never questioned the existence of Santa.  Sometime late in elementary school, my friends and I came to the consensus that there was no way Santa could be real.  I didn't feel cheated or disappointed or lied-to.  It was just another one of those "growing up" life lessons like the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy.  Of course, I still played along at home because I had a 6-years-younger brother and, well, Santa was just fun!

I always assumed I would be a "Santa parent" as my parents had been.  Why not?

The Origins of "XMas!"

Over the last few weeks, as with every year, my Facebook news feed has become flooded with the angry postings of my devoted and well-intentioned -- albeit misinformed -- Christian friends railing against the atrocities of substituting the word "XMas" for their perceived-to-be-holier term "Christmas."  I generally shake my head, since I know more about the origins of the word XMas than my Christian friends apparently do.  But, since I believe that knowledge is the key to solving many problems, I've decided to tackle the issue in a blog this year in hopes that my news feed will be more XMas-friendly next year.

I'll be quoting excerpts from several other sites, but will include links back to the original articles for those wishing to read them in their entirety.

First, quotes from this article on the Christian Resource Institute's website The Voice:

A Special Christmas Gift from My Daddy

Well, today is Christmas!  I barely slept last night because I was so excited to see whether or not Kaleb would have fun with all his new Christmas gifts!  He has, of course, had lots of fun this morning.  He got his very own child-sized recliner with a footstool and an end table and an LED lamp that he can turn on and off all by himself.  He's gotten new toys and books and clothes, too, and played all morning up until nap time.

I got some pretty nice things too!  I had already gotten my new love seat from my dad a few weeks ago, and we had created a footstool to go with it by shortening and upholstering an old coffee table I had in storage.  Dad also came home a few days ago with a new rug for my living room, since the old one no longer matched (the new love seat is a different color than the old one).  Also, Dad had paid for us to have Kaleb's portraits made a couple of days ago, also as part of my Christmas.  I expected I might receive a couple of other smaller gifts, and I did.  One gift in particular, though, has already brought tears to my eyes a few times today, and I feel it deserves a blog post!

Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas

As much as I enjoy the festive season of holidays that begins at Thanksgiving and continues until the New Year's party hangovers have worn off, I'm always brought down just a little bit by the people who constantly bicker and whine about the "reason for the season."

I'd guess that nearly all of my friends (on Facebook and in real life) would identify themselves as believing in the Biblical God.  Being in the South, people identifying themselves as "Christian" are definitely in the majority, and that's not a problem for me.  I grew up in church, and many of my friends still actively live the Christian lifestyle.

My problem is this: around here (and probably in other places too) there are people who actually get offended if you wish them a "Happy Holidays" rather than a "Merry CHRISTmas."  Now, I understand that Jesus may be your reason for the season, and I respect that, but I also respect the fact that Christmas isn't the only holiday celebrated in the late-December/early-January window.  There are also Santa Lucia Day (Sweden), Las Posadas (Mexico), Hanukkah (Jewish), Boxing Day (Canada), Kwanzaa, Yule, Emancipation Day, Feast of St. Basil, New Year's, Guru Gobind Singh's Birthday (Sikh), Epiphany, Three Kings' Day, and Lohri (Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh).....and probably many more I've never even heard of!  So, if I tell you "Happy Holidays," I'm not trying to downplay the importance of your God and/or your religion in your life; rather, I'm making an ethnically- and religiously-neutral statement of good will, and trying to express that I hope you enjoy whatever holiday(s) you choose to celebrate this time of year.