13 Ways To Celebrate Fall

Hello, Thursday Thirteeners! While you’re here, be sure to check out my contest that just started. At the end of this month, I’ll be giving away a box of my “favorite things.” I’d love to have you play along.

 Some cooler weather blew into my area this week, breaking a long heat wave. It’s got me thinking about my favorite season, fall! Let’s explore some ways to celebrate this beautiful season.

 

Memories of Mammaw and Pappaw’s House

The title of this blog is a reference to a line in Thornton Wilder’s play, Our Town. In it, the central character is able to go back and review one day of her life after her death. While she is viewing her simple day, she is overwhelmed by how much she missed and took for granted during her life. She asks:

“Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?—every, every minute?”

If I could go back to a place from my youth, I would choose my Mammaw and Pappaw’s house. It is filled with happy memories for me.

1. Tents I would take all of the kitchen chairs, bring them into the living room, and drape sheets all over the top of them. I would spend hours inside my “tent” or “cave” having imaginary adventures.
2. Stone Soup Having read the children’s story “Stone Soup,” I decided that I wanted to make some. I found a cool rock outside and Mammaw helped me in the kitchen. I added an enormous amount of salt and pepper to my stone concoction and let it simmer. I never tasted it…
3. My Little House Pappaw built this little addition onto the shed in his backyard, and it was my “Little House.” It even had its own front porch. Looking back, it way very tiny. But to little me, it was a mansion. Many hours were spent out there with my action figures having a grand old time.
4. Spider We had a dog named Spider who was an affable mutt. He endured whatever I came up with for us to play with good humor and enthusiasm. “What a dog!” I used to say in praise of him.
5. The Storm Cellar Mammaw was unhealthily afraid of storms, so naturally they had a storm cellar. This was something that Pappaw had built himself, digging a huge hole in the ground and filling with concrete. I went down the rickety wooden steps into that musty dampness many times. Pappaw always resisted going down. He prefereed to stay out and “keep an eye on the clouds.” I was always afraid he’d be whisked away.
6. Chickens They kept chickens in a pen in their backyard. I chased them way more than I should. It’s a wonder some brave rooster didn’t let me have it.
7. Green beans There was a garden in that backyard as well, and my favorite dish was the fresh green beans Mammaw would cook. Sometimes I’d want only them for a meal.
8. Rabbits As if there weren’t enough magic in that backyard from what I’ve already described, I even got to keep rabbits back there! Their pens didn’t have a bottom, so they were constantly burrowing out. Spider would happily chase them around the yard until they’d eventually go back down into their hole and back into the pen. I don’t know why they never seemed to leave the yard!
9. Appliance Magic They had this old washing machine that had these rollers that you’d pass the wet clothes through to wring the water out of them. Then the clothes would get hung outside on a line. This seemed so much cooler than the dryer we had at our house. And the clothes smelled so much better after being on that line!
10. Pappaw’s Coins He had this big zipper pouch full of old coins that I loved to look through. Indian heads and buffalo, half dollars and silver dollars. I’m sure they weren’t valuable but they certainly were fascinating.
11. The Gingerbread Man It was my favorite book and Mammaw would read it to me no matter how many times I wanted it repeated. “Run, run, fast as you can….”
12. The Scanner They had a police scanner on sort of constantly in the background. The soundtrack of my memories is “10-4, what’s your 20?”
13. Freedom I never got in trouble for anything over there. It seems like whatever crazy scheme I came up with was accepted and encouraged. I was never bad… just overly imaginative.

Saturday Special: Personal Preferences

~Personal Preferences~

1. Quiet evening at home or Out on the town?:

Evenings in our home are rarely quiet, with a kindergartener and a toddler running around! When we do go out, it’s usually just for dinner and we take the kids with us.

2. Watch a movie or Reading a good book?:

I love to watch a good movie with my wife and then dissect it like the drama nerds we are!

3. Order a meal or Cooking one yourself?:

Can my wife cook? Because otherwise it’s going to be hot dogs if I’m cooking.

4. Going for a walk or Taking a ride in the car?:

I love going for a walk. Since it has been flaming hot lately, we haven’t been doing much of that. Come on, autumn!

Thirteen Gratitudes

I’ll start my day by listing thirteen things I’m thankful for.

1. I am surrounded with love from my wonderful family.
2. I have parents who taught be the importance of saying “I love you” and showing others that you mean it.
3. My wife inspires me to appreciate the beauty of life.
4. I have a career that is satisfying and fulfilling for me.
5. My children are happy, healthy, and beautiful.
6. My daughter is excited to start Kindergarten, and I am happy that we live in an area with excellent public schools that I am proud to send her to.
7. I am very thankful to live and work in comfort during this very hot time of the year!
8. I’m thankful that most of my life is comfortable and that I am free from worry.
9. Communicating freely through forums like the internet without fear of reprisal is definitely a blessing.
10. I’m grateful for the relaxing vacation I just had with my family.  I feel so refreshed!
11. I’m happy to be able to indulge in little pleasures: a favorite snack or a new “office supply.”
12. Good conversation with good friends is truly priceless.
13. I’m happy to have people participating in and promoting this new blog. Thank you!

Thirteen Back To School Items

Since I’m both a teacher and parent, my mind is pretty much stuck in “back to school” mode this week. I’m back for another year of teaching and my daughter just started kindergarten.When I was younger, one of my favorite aspects of back to school time was getting a new set of school supplies! Here are some of my most and least favorite items.

1. Trapper Keeper - As a child of the 80’s, I loved a new Trapper Keeper! Finding one with a cool design was the key. I never wanted one with just a plain cover. For some reason, in my later elementary years the school started prohibiting them. I could never understand why. Maybe they were too big to fit in our desks?

2. A new Crayola box - Nothing held the promise of good times quite like a brand new box of crayons. That fresh smell when you’d first open the box was intoxicating. The best was that huge box of 64 with the crayon sharpener in the back… although my tips always broke off after sharpening.

3. A new lunch box - I think my favorite was my G. I. Joe one. I never used the thermos, but those were a nice touch.

4. New shoes - I can remember trying out my new shoes in the back yard. I was always convinced that I could run faster and jump higher in a new pair of shoes.

5. A pencil box - I would always arrange things “just so” in my pencil box, vowing that this year I would be SO organized!

6. A new backpack - With lots of pockets, please. Because I have so many cool things to put in there!

7. Stickers - folders look so much cooler with Optimus Prime or Lion-O on them.

And now for some of my least favorite items:

8. New jeans - they are always so dark blue, so stiff, and terribly uncomfortable. And did they have to say “Husky” on the back?

9. Colored pencils - They always disappointed me. The color never seemed vivid enough. Maybe it’s because I always had cheap ones from Wal-Mart.

10. Kleenex - Always on the school supply list. Always boring.

11. Glue - Because really, what’s cool about Elmer’s glue other than that cow on the label?

12. Underwear - What’s wrong with my old ones? There aren’t that many holes in them.

13. Socks - See above.

What’s a “Random Act of Linkess?”

One of the regular features on this blog is the “Random Act of Linkness.”

I select a deserving blogger from the vast blogosphere and highlight their blog, usually with a link to the blog, a link to a specific post, and a selected quote from the post.

The purpose is simply to build a sense of community and encourage interaction.

It is my hope that the recipient of the “Linkess” will “pay it forward” and engage in their own Random Act of Linkness on their blog. Certainly, a link back to this blog would be appreciated as well.

In other words, it’s a meme.

Thanks!

Archives of all the Random Acts of Linkness are here.

MyTurn/YourTurn: Summer Days

MyTurn: When I was little, my summer days were pretty much spent outside. I don’t ever remember thinking, “Gee, it’s hot. Maybe I shouldn’t go outside.” I’m sure mom probably kept me inside when it was necessary, but for the most part I was out playing.

One of my favorite things to do was dig. I didn’t have a proper sandbox, really. I did have a designated spot in the backyard that was reserved for my digging. I enjoyed constructing elaborate tunnels — digging down in two different places and then digging the holes toward one another until they connected. I also spent a good deal of time burying action figures and then helping them rise from their graves.

At some point in my young life, I heard about the concept of the water table. The idea was that if you dug deep enough, eventually you would discover water. My imagination created a flowing underground river that was waiting for me if I’d just dig a deep enough hole. I resolved to find this, like some Renaissance explorer.

I set out digging deeper and deeper, until my little shovel met resistance. I plunged the shovel in another time and was rewarded for my efforts: water began to fill my deep backyard hole! To share my discovery, I summoned my mom to the back door. I was confused at first as to why she didn’t share my excitement. It took a while for her to convince me that it wasn’t the “underground stream” at all.

It was a sewer pipe.

YourTurn: How did you like to spend a summer day when you were a kid?

What is MyTurn/YourTurn?

clip art from A Perfect World