Harvest Blessings

I love this time of year in Lancaster County when the crops are harvested, the pumpkins appear on everyone’s porch, the mums are in full bloom, and the October skies are filled with low-lying clouds. What a blessing to be able to take in the sights and smells of the earth before winter covers them up with a blanket of snow. It’s like springtime for just a little while before they begin the big sleep of winter.

On Sunday, I took in some of the harvest blessings, including a wedding that I happened on while walking around one of my favorite places – Donegal Presbyterian Church. The flower girls were making good use of their time while the others in the bridal party stood in line for their formal portrait. Children are good barometers of life; they grab at it every chance they get. Every day is a harvest blessing for them!

Take one day a week to enjoy your harvest blessings and learn to "play" again. If you have food, shelter, and work to do, you are blessed. Appreciate the little blessings of daily life and think about ways you can share harvest blessing with others.

“Happiness is not a possession…it is a state of mind.”

~ Daphne du Maurier

Living Life Passionately,

Less is More !

It's official... fall is here!

I placed the wreath on the door this morning, but it's only one of the "less is more" essentials I have instituted in my life. My thinking is if I have a beautiful door wreath, I have to do less gardening because the focus is on the door, not the weeds in my garden.

Yesterday I cleaned and cleaned...mainly my walk-in closet, so it can live up to its name! I found things I had held onto for years and realized, I could sell them on eBay, which I have done. I didn't realize it was so easy.

The wreath and closet are all part of my new attitude. Ask yourself, "Is this necessary, or is it clutter that hinders and hampers me?"

Having less of what you don't want frees you to concentrate more of what you do want.

Clear time in your calendar for planning, putting in lots of white space (another new attitude), and create space in your surroundings -- declutter your desk, office space, and make your bedroom a retreat area -- not grand central.

Let fall be a time of new beginnings of "less is more" by evaluating your possessions and activities.

To help in my efforts, I bought an essential tool of the trade -- a beautiful pink leather calendar (pink is my favorite color). It wasn't a want, it was a need. When I open up its clean white pages with leather binding, I'm very careful what I put in there (that's the purpose!).

Enjoy this new "less is more" season in your life!

Living Life Passionately,

Fall Splendor

This has been one of the most colorful falls on record. In fact when I voted yesterday (I have my Starbucks coffee cup to prove it!), everyone was talking more about the trees than the candidates. I’m not sure what makes the difference (fall that is), but I’m sure the rain has something to do with it. And since we haven’t had horrible wind storms, the leaves have stayed on the trees longer, which means my camera goes everywhere with me, even if I’m heading to the gas station. Why? Because I think some of the most beautiful places around happen to be within a five-mile radius of our home. We are surrounded by Amish farms, rolling green (amber) hills, the Susquehanna River, and state parks.

I’m tempted to get my glue gun out and stick the leaves back on the tree, so I can enjoy the beauty of fall just a little bit longer. Soon the branches will be bare and the golden hues will be replaced with that white stuff!

So for now, I’m falling in love with the splendor of fall.

The First Day of Fall!

The air is crisp, the sky is slate blue with a slight haze, the pumpkins are out, the welcome wreath with fake leaves and pheasant feathers is on the door, the garden is mulched, so it must be the first day of fall.

Goodbye to summer, but not quite yet. I’m not ready. My tomatoes are still flourishing, my flowers are blooming (not just the mums!), and I haven’t put my summer clothes away (I wore white today for the last time). The leaves are turning and there’s that smokiness in the air that reminds me that soon frost will paste the windows and I’ll need to rummage through the boxes in the basement for winter sweaters and coats. Oh no!

But before I say “hello winter,” I’m heading off to San Diego to spend five days with my family. My little brother is getting married. Yeah! It’s going to be a party (that’s what I keep telling my mom). It’s a long story, but you can pray!

When I return on October 7th on the “red eye,” I leave for New Jersey to speak at Merck Pharmaceuticals Global Network of Women, and that weekend a retreat at Wapiti, Maryland. As a speaker, October is my busiest time because it’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month—the month of pink. And I will need to gear up for planes, trains and automobiles.

This will be one of our last falls in Pennsylvania, so I will treasure the speckled leaves that look like the back of a giraffe, the crisp mornings, and the changing of the seasons because in fifteen months (a little less now), we will return once again to my home—California—where I belong.

I feel like I’m going to break out and sing a John Denver song (and you don’t want that—do you?).

That’s what I like about fall—the first day anyway!



P.S. I will blog sporadically the month of October as time allows, but if not I'll see you in November!