autumn
It's been a long time since I've been able to really enjoy fall time. Before I started teaching, I'd spend much of the end of August to mid-September camping and hunting. I absolutely love to camp in the fall. I love that the days get warm and sunny and yet when I wake up in the morning I can see my breath. That feeling of snuggling down deep into a sleeping bag knowing that once I emerge it will a race to get a fire started, some hot coffee brewing, and enough movement to warm up.
This year I'm getting to see fall again. After a few days of rain, this morning is absolutely beautiful. It's cool, but sunny. The colors seem to be changing instantly, more reds and browns than greens and bright yellows. Dropping my son off at school today I could even smell fall. The crispness, and highbrush cranberries, and wet leaves.
I thought about going moose hunting. I haven't shot a moose, or even been hunting, since I started teaching 15 years ago. We certainly could use the meat, and the reduction in our grocery budget. But in reality, going moose hunting alone isn't a good idea. Not just for safety's sake, but if I were to get one, the work of cutting & packing is too much for one person. At least for this one person, who wouldn't have the aid of a 4-wheeler or such.
Maybe I'll go camping this next week. My family will all be gone on various adventures and I'll be on my own. At the least, I'll get in some hikes and lots of walks here in the hills. A day or two picking cranberries and rose hips, and time just to breathe that cool, fall air.
Enjoying autumn reminds me that I used to have a life, a soul outside of work and teaching. I'm glad I'll have fall before winter sets in. Rejuvenating autumn will yield to the reflection of winter, when I traded gathering and camping for sewing, cooking, creating and planning. Winter used to be my time for work I loved and valued. Somehow, winters became a time of work I loved and dreaded - never feeling like I had enough time or ability to enjoy the investment. Maybe that's what tipped the scale; I never had the space and time to sit back and just enjoy the investment and work in teaching. It was always a push to move on to the next thing, to check off one more task or objective. This winter, I'm going to give myself the gift of enjoying the work I do, whatever that work turns out to be.
But for now, I'm going to keep breathing in the smell and peace of falltime.
This year I'm getting to see fall again. After a few days of rain, this morning is absolutely beautiful. It's cool, but sunny. The colors seem to be changing instantly, more reds and browns than greens and bright yellows. Dropping my son off at school today I could even smell fall. The crispness, and highbrush cranberries, and wet leaves.
I thought about going moose hunting. I haven't shot a moose, or even been hunting, since I started teaching 15 years ago. We certainly could use the meat, and the reduction in our grocery budget. But in reality, going moose hunting alone isn't a good idea. Not just for safety's sake, but if I were to get one, the work of cutting & packing is too much for one person. At least for this one person, who wouldn't have the aid of a 4-wheeler or such.
Maybe I'll go camping this next week. My family will all be gone on various adventures and I'll be on my own. At the least, I'll get in some hikes and lots of walks here in the hills. A day or two picking cranberries and rose hips, and time just to breathe that cool, fall air.
Enjoying autumn reminds me that I used to have a life, a soul outside of work and teaching. I'm glad I'll have fall before winter sets in. Rejuvenating autumn will yield to the reflection of winter, when I traded gathering and camping for sewing, cooking, creating and planning. Winter used to be my time for work I loved and valued. Somehow, winters became a time of work I loved and dreaded - never feeling like I had enough time or ability to enjoy the investment. Maybe that's what tipped the scale; I never had the space and time to sit back and just enjoy the investment and work in teaching. It was always a push to move on to the next thing, to check off one more task or objective. This winter, I'm going to give myself the gift of enjoying the work I do, whatever that work turns out to be.
But for now, I'm going to keep breathing in the smell and peace of falltime.
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