Time

Today marks exactly six months since Neal and I were married. Part of me hardly believes it's been that long already, and the other part feels like we've just always been together. My life married to Neal is blissful. Of course I knew it would be, which is why I married him in the first place! So, here's a shout out to my handsome bearded husband. :)

Don't you just love the time of year when the air snaps at you and the sunlight comes in streams through falling leaves? As Neal and I walked to and from church today, we kicked the mounds of leaves fallen from a particularly large Cottonwood tree down the street. I'm tempted to join the kids in raking them up and jumping in them. The brittle bits of gold make me feel so...old, or experienced. They mark the passing of time for me. In many ways this feeling of nostalgia is good for me. It makes me hold tightly to the things I love the most. I feel more grateful for a cup of cocoa or the coziness of a blanket. I want to take advantage of what may be the last days of sunny warm afternoons. At the same time, I always feel a bit like a slacker come fall. I realize that summertime goals fell a bit short, and my house needs spring cleaning a bit early. I realize that the year is moving toward its close. And I hate saying goodbye to a good year. They are so precious to me. 

When I was a child, I remember thinking that our family song was "Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel." Maybe I've already mentioned this, but I so value the lessons in work given me by my mother and father, my sisters and brothers. I was never quite as good at working as the rest of them. I just had so much relaxing and reading to do! I'm still sort of that way today. I enjoy work, but sometimes I just want to be still more. I want to breathe and think and read. I want to stroll along the gutters cluttered with leaves and just listen to them crunch. And I don't have as much time for that right now. School and work crowd out other parts of my day. Even the doing the dishes has become a task that feels like a break from the hard stuff! Anyways, I don't really have much to say except, I love autumn and I love my life. And I look forward to a time when my days feel less frantic, even if that's not til I'm dead.