Fall's Beauty

 Every season has it's own beauty. I have always liked the deeper tones and hues of color. The richness and depth of the fall colors is so, so me. The colors have not peaked yet. By next week the full brilliancy of the colors will captivate one's visual sense. Already the oohs and ahhs have been expressed, so how could it possibly get any more beautiful! Nevertheless the best is yet to come. So drink it all in and savor the moment for it will soon pass giving way to a different season with it's own kind of beauty.

 

Hope you enjoyed the fall color tour on Fultz mountain. Blessings to all!

A time to keep and a time to cast away

Entrance

Work area

Sales area

In the late summer of 2008 I began what has now become a 4 year journey. I started with a desire to clean out and simplify. I guess one would call this fall cleaning, which in and of itself is not unusual. We all have our spring and fall cleaning times. In the past I would have a garage sale but that option was not available to me now. The option that was available was the flea market. I choose the indoor over the outdoor flea market. I liked the idea of being able to set my stuff up and leave it. I liked knowing the building was locked during the week. I liked not being completely exposed to weather conditions. So I gathered things that I knew I did not want anymore, hauled it to the booth and set the booth up. My initial thoughts were to do this for a month. By the end of the month I discovered that not only did I sell a lot of the stuff, I actually enjoyed having the booth. So I went for another month, gathering more stuff to take to the booth and discovering that I actually liked the clutter being removed from the house. My booth was a half booth and I didn't have a lot of space to accommodate the supply I was taking in. I was getting serious about the cleaning out and letting go of things. Things I never considered letting go of before I was now considering and choosing to let them go. I was really liking the new found space in the house and becoming more determined to simplify. In Oct 2008 a full booth became available and I took it. Unlike the half booth this one was enclosed and had doors that could be locked by me. So I moved everything into it's new place and gave it a name, Deb's Place. I and Deb's Place have gone through a few changes since then. I continue to clear stuff out of my house and take it to the booth. In 41 years of marriage, a lot of things were accumulated. Some things were not so easy to let go of, largely due to the sentimental and or nostalgic attachments to them. The more I was able to let go of, the freer I became. Not only was the tangible things fleeing away, so was the intangible. The simplicity I was desiring was arriving to take it's place. There are of course certain things I won't let go of and that's okay. As I came into this year of 2012 I began to wonder if I was done with the cleaning out part. I seemed to have come to a standstill. By the end of February I started seeing a little different purpose for the booth. I and Deb's Place was about to embark on yet another change. By the end of August the change was made. The booth is now a 2-fold place. Half of it is for sales, the other half is a work area. An area where I can let my creativity flow and not have to clean up and put away because there's no space for it. Whatever I work on I can let it stay right where I leave it. So yes, more stuff is being taken out of the house to the booth, only now for a different reason. I have a fresh excitement for this coming winter. I wonder what will come out of the work area. Yes, I am still on this cleaning out and simplifying journey only now the purpose for it is a bit clearer.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up: a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

 

Two steps back

Sometimes in this dance of life we take 2 steps backward in order to go forward. Such is what I'm having to do in order to go forward with my blogs. I look at all that my life consists of and I wonder how to connect the dots. What is the pattern? What are the steps to be taken? Where have I been and where am I going? Most importantly, where am I now? What is this dance that I have been doing since January 2011 until now? It is a new dance that I am having to learn.Will I ever learn to do it gracefully or will I continue to be so awkward and unsure as it has seemed to be? Such are the reflective pondering of late.

Time gets away!

I had a very calm morning yesterday, September 20, 2012 and I began to think about blogging again. So before I went to work I jotted down the ideas of what to write so I wouldn't forget them. This morning September 21, 2012, is also calm so I went to my blog and read the last thing I posted. Wow!!! January 2011 was the last posting. Oh my the time got away from me. The year 2011 was a such a crazy year. Anyway, am really going to try to post more frequently.