I admit it…. 46 hours ago, I woke up (a feat in and of itself) and upon discovering that the sore throat had come and fully grasped me, I dropped back into bed, pulled the covers up, and started listing reasons I’d be justified in skipping church. After forcing myself to arise and open my curtains, I glared angrily at the light lacing of snow, annoyed at it’s inadequacy when the weather website had promised me six whole inches. “Accuweather… never looking at your site again!” I grumbled to no one in particular. No cd brought about a change in my cynicism. Not even the voices of three thousand people singing Come Thou Fount at the T4G conference improved my mood remotely… most likely because I wasn’t really focusing on the words.  
After being disgruntled about the lack of snow, I went about my day mostly like normal. Then it started snowing… and snowing… Now it’s still snowing hard, windy, and I most definitely got my promised six inches. Last night I curled up with a very big hot coffee, a heavy comfortable blanket, and sat and simply watched the snow fall. Either that, or I slept in front of the fire while wishing I could see both at once. I couldn’t have picked a better time to be so sick. I love watching the wind blow the snow around, and measuring the inches on the roadway. What I do not love is having family members out driving in it… Makes me nervous. At the moment, there are at least eight inches of snow up on the deck, where it has accumulated without wind interference. Now, for the apologetic sentence—I started writing this particular post yesterday, but didn’t end up finishing it. Therefore, some disjointedness may occur. Hopefully that is a plausible explanation for all errors, grammatical and chronological.
Today, or rather this morning, mom and clark and i went on a walk that inevitably ended in starbucks. I must admit that was the driving force behind getting me out of bed…. However, I was quite thrilled with the sun and sparkling snow that we encountered along the way. So far, I’m assuming that the cold wasn’t a further detriment to my recovery from a rather nasty cold that I’ve been fighting. The accusations of those who would falsely name me a hypochondriac now must fall by the wayside… A slight temperature validated my claims of invalidity. I’m not sure if that phrase is grammatically correct—I sincerely doubt it.
Originally I had a grand blog all planned out in my head. I was ready to have a creative narrative, followed by slightly less-creative pictures. However, what I end up with is very few pictures, because I haven’t ventured out into the cold long enough to really get any good ones. I was all ready to hit the streets yesterday morning with my camera in hand, but an ill-timed Verizon Wireless bill interrupted that. By the time I recovered from the bill, the only thing that sounded appealing was a hot shower. Since a four day headache is still lingering, I’m afraid that my creativity was killed and is having trouble recovering. Lest I leave you with only a few boring paragraphs, please allow me to share a few not-artsy pictures with you. A few snapshots are all I have. Perhaps next time I get online, and in a blogging mood, I will be found to have an endless well of miraculous creativity, with which to astound you. But until that moment, don’t hold your breath….. 



 

 
 

 
 

Tomorrow morning will find me dauntlessly arising early. It’s an occurrence I hope to make into a custom. (I’ve never managed it in the past, but the future is equal to hope, right?) I must say, I’m rather looking forward to it. There is something about walking in crisp autumn mornings that brings a decided air of optimism to my step. Of course, this being Washington, the optimism may be slightly more rainy than usual. Thankfully, I am ok with that too.
At this point, I could use a good dose of optimism. About two times a year, I find myself in a slightly blue funk, mixed with a strong desire to go on a horrendously long roadtrip. I hate to call it like it is, but I think it might be termed discontent, which is ironic, since I recently heard a rather excellent sermon on contentment. With my typical lack of originality, instead of coming up with my own zinging points of conviction to share with you all, I will simply put a link to the sermon. 
http://sovgracewa.org/audio/Doug_Edwards_9.5.10.mp3
That being said, I think I will skip over the details of my latest doldrums, as I blog and listen to this sermon once again.
Autumn is on my mind. It’s the gateway to winter, which happens to be my favorite season. Autumn means sweaters are my constant companion, and that I can redundantly wear bright orange scarves. It means re-arranging the living room, so the fireplace becomes the center, rather than the ugly coffee table. No excuse is needed for long walks, and coming home to a cheerful, crackling blaze. There is something about looking in my front window, seeing people relaxing with spiced cider and books, that makes me warm and happy to be home like nothing else does. Summer and spring are wonderful, but the cold seasons create a hearth-appeal like few things can. When I was younger, it meant potential days off of school, but in the last few years, it’s meant enjoying the comfy home times with no school to dread. An added, rather major, bonus is that Fall lighting is fantastic for photography.
I hate the color yellow, but in Autumn, it’s bearable. I generally don’t prefer hot drinks that aren’t caffeinated, but in Fall, I’m willing to drink cider, with no addictive stimulant benefits involved. I don’t like wearing fuzzy socks in summer (in washington, summer isn’t equated with warmth) but in October, sweatshirts and fuzzy socks are acceptable inside. I don’t like sitting for hours at the stove, but in November, it’s worth it, because I’m making caramel. Autumn is a myriad of things. Redheads are in season in the magazines, caramel goes with popcorn, cinnamon goes with pumpkins, and starbucks makes special lattes. We can burn all the spiced ginger candles we got on sale.
Wow. Two long paragraphs of oozing optimism. Maybe we can call it “gushing.” Well, I’ve gushed long enough for this night, and probably bored you out of your mind. My enthusiasm for the season would write several pages, but the late hour (and consideration for your minds….cerebral evac isn’t particularly desirable in readers) forces me to stop where I stand.
Happy Autumn. Happy Winter.