Dear Reader:

I know I am trying to hurry Fall along, guilty as charged. I am just so ready for the smell of bonfires, crisp, brightly colored leaves falling, the sound of football bands, gorgeous mums of every color, pumpkins, savory smells of homemade soups and stews…..I could go on and on. How I love Fall!

“Woof Woof” to the dog-days of August….actually I should have said, “Pant, pant” to the dog-days of August. Scramble heat and humidity!….We have broken enough records for one year!

Libby is our craftiest crafts Ya! She is always designing and making creative projects for her family, grandchildren, and even nephews and nieces. Case-in-point: Look at this cool crayon wreath she designed and gave her niece Paige, a young school teacher! Wouldn’t you love to have an aunt like Libby?

When Libby sent us a photo of the finished project…she texted: “Made for Paige for new school year….Still luv to smell crayons!”

Several of you have made the exact, same comment whenever a blog has something to do with crayons! It must be an universal smell of delight and childhood memories blended together!

*However, a little memory neuron (miraculously still working in my brain) kept nagging at me that someone else had made a comment about Fall and school supplies….not crayons, but….but got it! “Sharpened pencils!”

It was Tom Hanks in “You’ve Got Mail!” (a wonderful chick-flick!) The exact quote that Hanks emailed Meg was:

“Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms.”

We have talked several times about the power of the sense of smell in our memories of the past. Perhaps that is why there is always, like Libby and Tom Hanks’ character in the movie (Joe FOX) a little yearning each Fall in our hearts when we smell pumpkins and burning leaves and school. The season of new beginnings and unforeseeable possibilities.

Fall is the season of “not knowing” what the new school year or job will bring and it does have its charms. (Even though it takes so long coming and gets squeezed in between summer and winter too quickly.)

If I could rearrange the length of the seasons, it would run something like this: Short summer, l-o-n-g Fall, short winter, l-o-n-g spring. Two shorts, two longs…just enough, but not too much!

Still I think God, with his magical box of crayons, colored the earth just the way it should have been colored. With green, the shade of life and re-birth as the most prominent color for man to walk upon, and blue for the sky to soothe us each evening, yellow for the bright sun to awaken us to the chirping of the birds, and black for the darkness that allows us to sleep soundly….reassured that the spectacular yellows, oranges, and reds are just hours away.

So until tomorrow….Enjoy this Saturday, get out and play in God’s greatest playground, His Creation. Enjoy the waning days of summer and hint of Fall to come with the unexpected cool breeze that catches us unaware. Fall will defeat summer, just like winter will defeat Fall, and Spring will defeat winter, and finally summer will return…just the way God planned. Find happiness (pant, pant) in every season!

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

*I hope you don’t weary of me and this “light” thing I am on….but believe me, all of you new lens recipients (minus your cataracts) know exactly what I mean. Your “new” eyes let the sunshine in and it stays all day and night.

*So I bought one box of two new solar lights for the deck while Ernie removed all the old ones that had sputtered out over the years. I told him I would try the two new ones and if I liked them I would get enough to finish going around the deck and let him finish up with them next time. What do you think? I like them…they complement the exterior color of the deck.

This is my favorite statue solar light now….It was on sale at Tuesday Morning….one of those half off of half off end-of- summer deals….He is catching lightning bugs….It brings back such fond memories…Wish it could bring back the lightning bugs…I miss them!

*Eva Cate  earned seven pennies for good behavior  so Mandy took her to Claires and let her pick out her dangling earrings that she so adores (and is allowed to only wear at home.)

Obviously Claires must have been having a fantastic end-of-the-summer sale. And the girls didn’t even have to go to the GAP because Eva Cate already has one of those naturally!