Monday, October 21, 2013

Autumn Thought Bubbles





 "It was one of those perfect autumn days which occur more frequently in memory than in life."
                                                ~ P. D. James

 Can you remember specific events or experiences that occurred in some of the Octobers of your life?  I can remember sitting in our childhood playhouse (very rough interior and inhabited by spiders) drawing Halloween pictures.  I liked sketching moons with witches flying past.  I drew ghosts and haunted houses. I created lopsided jack-o-lanterns with triangle eyes.  
I remember walking up the hill from the bus stop on fall days.  The leaves were falling and they were BIG!  Have you been picking up leaves?  When you open up your "keeper" books in future years, you'll thank yourself for placing them between the pages.

 Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I always wore a coat.  The air was damp and the wind cutting.  Here in Colorado, the air is dry and if it isn't snowing, the bright skies make it possible to go coatless.  I remember a warm little camel-colored coat with a shiny lining. I had a tweedy woven fabric coat, autumn-colored.  I had a puffy red jacket.  Every fall, I got a warm coat.  Do you remember a childhood coat?
I have just this week of school before my fall break.  We're going to a warm place and then Bill is having hip replacement surgery so I'll need to take an additional week off.  During November, Bill will be recovering and then my delightful mama is coming to stay with us for a week and she'll be here on feast day!  Doesn't the thought of a nice brown roasted turkey make you smile?  
Well, with those fall thoughts, I'm having one more cup of coffee and a dip into my Bible before I leave for school.
I hope you have a colorful week of holiday thinking because I believe the consideration of tradition and family joy is the sweetest treat of the season.

23 comments:

Nancy McCarroll said...

Your post made me smile because the one October memory immediately came to mind ...1972 and a picture of Julie when I plopped her down in a pumpkin patch by the side of the road and took a picture. Of course, back then, the color on the pictures was not lasting, so it is pretty much faded, but still a snap of a memory.

Love that first quote.

Anonymous said...

Lovely post PP! I remember my blue, quilted anorak, my Mum had a brown one. We used to walk along the cliff tops to get to school every day. I remember the smell of smoking chimneys in the village during Autumn. Thanks for reminding me.

I hope Bill gets on well with his operation and you have a blessed time with your Mom's visit. love and hugs, xxx

ann said...

Well, we got married in October. As a child we lived on a farm east of Golden with huge maple trees with leaves larger than my hands. I'collect leaves, rake leaves, throw leaves. Good luck on the hip replacement in a few weeks. You will be a good nurse.

Farm Girl said...

I love your remembrances. I only got a new coat every other year. Yes, I do remember them. I love that you drew your Halloween pictures, I drew them too, I loved all of them. Yes, I have my leaves I collect each fall, I have been on the look out but as of yet I haven't found any good ones. It is still too warm.
It sounds like you have so many plans to look forward too.
Have a beautiful week.

Jeannette said...

What lovely invitations to remember early beauties, kindnesses and provisions . It's good to let the love of days gone by continue to inhabit and inform us. And for those who did not have even fortune as children...didn't always have the coats or shoes needed ... may light and warmth and center of the coming seasons ever more available.

Such fun illustrations...they alone remind me of time curled up with childhood books.

M.K. said...

It sounds like you have lots of fun fallish visiting planned -- that will make these weeks/months pass very fast indeed! I hope your last week is quick and profitable, and your vacation is fabulous, and recovering with Bill is a joy, and your mother another joy. Turkey is coming!

magsmcc said...

You make me remember the October I entered my library's creative writing competition and won it with a most clichéd tale of a haunted house on a hill! Front cover illustrated and the whole thing still hanging about somewhere until recently- I wonder where that is? And I distinctly remember a fur coat with matching hand muff. Very proud of that I was! Wish I still had them now that our Northern weather is turning more and more to dark and wet and drear!

Left-Handed Housewife said...

I remember drawing lots of Halloween pictures--many, many jack-o-lanterns and ghosts. It was one of my favorite drawing times of the year. I'm trying to remember a coat, but I can't! I do remember a red and white crocheted poncho that I wore in the fall during the early seventies. I loved that poncho!

xofrances

Susan B said...

I don't have too many autumn memories other than dressing up for Halloween every year. We lived out in the country, and had to go into town to trick or treat. We would also go to my grandmother's, and she would always have donuts and spiced cider. My husband and I carried on the tradition after we were married, but haven't done it now for several years.

I hope your husband's surgery goes well. That is so wonderful that your mother is coming for a visit! Enjoy a lovely week! :)

Unknown said...

I remember going to grandpa's to get the big wolf river apples. I also remember digging through dress up clothes for costumes for Halloween. Praying for Bill. Enjoy mom.

Aida said...

You have an amazing memory PomPom. Enjoy your fall school break and good luck to Bill on his operation.

Happy thanksgiving

Aida

Danette Bartelmay said...

Hello Pom Pom!
What a heartwarming, thought provoking post. I love being taken back to my childhood. I had two very memorable coats. The first was an extremely furry hooded thing in a lovely teal. It had a zip all the way up and the one down side is my mother almost always zipped my chin into it ~ I was very young. But how I loved that coat! Then when I was around 8 or 9 I had a stylish "maxi" coat. Dark blue with fur lining the entire edges. Hadn't thought about these coats in ages. Thanks for the walk down memory lane :)))
I will pray for your Bill and his hip replacement surgery. God Bless you both.
~Danette

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

The one thing I remember most about trick or treating as a child was those little orange boxes they gave us at school- "trick or treat for unicef". I will never forget it.

Happy@Home said...

Lovely fall pictures and wonderful memories you have shared, Pom Pom. I'll have to put my thinking cap on to see what memories I can conjure up.
I am sending along healing thoughts for your husband's upcoming surgery. I know you will be taking good care of him.
Thank you so much for your kind comments on my recent posts. I am finding it much more difficult than I thought to close the blog door.

Heather L. said...

Oh I am so excited for you about next summer!!! You'll have to tell me more of your plans sometime, if you want to...

Catherine said...

Hello Pom Pom. I do love the way that you take everything in your stride!
Personally, I loath halloween anythings. I am so glad that we celebrate October in spring & we are watching the blossom trees release their wondrous papery petals in gales of pink confetti. It is way easier to adopt the lovely habits of Thanskgiving as that is when I meet my love. We are planning a special afternoon in the country for November.
Much love to Bill for the op..can't be too comfy for him just now. Have a lovely break. Much love GF x0x0x

Lisa Richards said...

Thanks for all of the cozy fall thoughts! You make me hungry for Brambly Hedge. I love to feast on those drawings!
I spent most of my youthful Octobers in Colorado. Trying to remember my coats. I think I do remember a camel colored one with a shiny lining like you describe!
Prayers for speedy healing for Bill. Have fun with Mom!

Sherry from Alabama said...

What sweet memories. I've lived in Alabama my whole life and our October weather is very unpredictable. So, sometimes my memories are wearing coats and sometimes short sleeves. :) But I do have lots of fond Autumn memories, especially centered around Halloween.

I wish you a happy fall break and your Bill a speedy recovery!

Gumbo Lily said...

One of my fond childhood memories of fall was burning leaves with my dad. We lived in town but there were back alleys that were graveled and we burned leaves back there. There is no more leaf burning in town anymore. I miss the aroma. Nice post, Pom Pom. I hope you have a nice break, and I hope Bill's surgery goes well.

~Jody

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

what a warm, cozy post
blessings on the surgery, your mother's visit and your time off

I haven't even thought of the holidays...babies are due first!

Leslie said...

What a pretty dining table picture. I think I could sit there a good while. How is your mama doing? I'm glad she is coming for a visit. And I wish Bill all the best. Here is to fall breaks!

Thistle Cove Farm said...

Like Nancy, your post made me smile; it's an enjoyable read, full of anticipation of good things, good food and family...life!

GretchenJoanna said...

I was about to say that I don't have autumn memories like the quote speaks of, but every fall I wonder why I never loved the previous ones so much...then I remembered, my very first memory of noticing nature's beauty was in the fall, when I was 10 or 11 and wandering by myself down by the river, and the air was so lovely, and the poplar trees (I think they were) were turning color....

My grandma would buy us "car coats" every year. My favorite one was a burnt orange. That was, of course, my first hearing of the color "burnt orange." That's a fall-ish color, eh?

We always went to the school Halloween festival, but of that I mostly remember that many years it was awfully cold to be outdoors all evening, probably in a thin costume, and the event was often something to be endured because of that - a hayride was not so much fun for this introvert.

My favorite autumn is this one. :-) Thanks, Pom Pom, for the prompts.

Followers